Eparnetes
Without any idea on the etymology (but on the identity) I had a go at ... the generic name
Eparnetes.
In today's
HBW Alive Key this name is explained as:
Eparnetes
(syn.? Thryothorus sens. lat.) Etymology undiscovered. Reichenbach's 1850, plate LVII, labelled Motacillinae: Troglodytinae & Menurinae, shows a superciliated wren-like bird with short wings and a long, barred tail. Despite this, following G. Gray 1859, Cat. Bds. Tropical Is. Pacific Ocean Brit. Mus., 14 (where misspelled Eparnates), Baker 1951, Avifauna Micronesia, 254, lists "Eparnetes [syrinx] Reichenbach, Syst. Avium, 1850, pl. 57 (no locality = Carolines); Bonaparte, Comptes Rendus Acad. Sci. Paris, 41, 1855, p. 1111 (Carolines)." as a synonym of Acrocophalus [sic] luscinia syrinx. Var. Eparnates.
As far as I can tell this name was first used by Reichenbach (1 March 1850).
•
Eparnetes Reichenbach 1850, on Plate 57 (LVII), headed/labelled; "
TEPIDATORES: Motacillinae: Troglodytinae. & Menurinae." (
here).
Though I haven't found any accompanying (possibly subsequent?) text, adherent to it (and the Richmond card,
here, doesn't help!).
Anyone who does know of such a text? By Reichenbach?
The earliest text I´ve found is Bonaparte's words, in
Comptes Rendus ... vol. 41, (from 1855), page 1111
here, where he mentioned Reichenbach's
Eparnetes, but it doesn't tell us more than (as far as I can tell, not knowing French) it's a bird "
provenant des Carolines" (from the Carolines).
On the other hand; Fitzinger (
here, from 1856?) list it: "
Eparnetes Reichenb. (
Tatare rousserolle Voy. au Pole Sud)" ... which takes us bit further back, to the 1840's and to Hombron et Jacquinot, Voyage au Pôle Sud, Zoologie, Atlas, pl. 20, fig. 5. (
here) and its text (
here):
Notre individu a été rapporté du groupe d'Hogoleu, dans l'archipel des Carolines. ...
Compare the two illustrations (both
attached), and note the similar long and (however faintly) barred tail.
With this said, and as
d'Hogoleu is (as far as I can tell) today's Chuuk (Islands) ... which to me (with no local experience from those particular Islands
), simply following the
Avibase checklist (
here) ... it does looks like the type species for
Eparnetes truly is/was/could have been a Caroline Islands Reed-Warbler
Acrocephalus syrinx VON KITTLITZ, 1833, as "
Sylvia Syrinx" (
here, and Plate
here).
Thereby I would assume that
Eparnetes REICHENBACH 1850 is a junior synonym of
Acrocephalus NAUMANN & NAUMANN 1811, based either (probably) on the extinct (today monotypic) Guam Reed-warbler
A. l. luscinius QUOY & GAIMARD 1830 (type location; Guam), or the Caroline Reed-warbler
Acrocephalus (
luscinius)
syrinx KITTLITZ 1833 (type location; Woleai Atoll, Caroline Islands)
*.
In my mind (without having seen more than Reichenbach's Plate, no text) I think it´s hard to narrow it down further than this. To tell exactly which one, of today's birds (regardlesss if today extinct or not), who was the master/model for the 1850 Plate isn't possible. At least not by me ...
For what it's worth ...
Björn
____________________________________________________
*alt. possibly, somehow (even if at that point still unknown/undescribed) that it could have been a; Mangareva/Astrolabe/Gambier Reed-warbler A. (l.) astrolabii HOLYOAK & THIBAULT 1978 (type location; "Yap", but now believed to be the Gambier Islands) alt. the other two (both extinct); the Pagan Reed-warbler A. (l.) yamashinae TAKATSUKASA 1931 (from Pagan Island) or the Aguijan Reed-warbler A. (l.) nijoi YAMASHINA 1940 (from Aguijan Island).
But, if so, one could wonder how on Earth Mr. Reichenbach got his hands on a specimen of one of those!
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