Olivier's (Sakalava) Rail a k a Olivier's Crake (1 Viewer)

[Björn Bergenholtz]

Let´s have a look at the eponym ...

olivieri as in:
• Sakalava Rail (Zapornia) Amaurornis olivieri GRANDIDIER & BERLIOZ 1929* as "Porzana Olivieri" a k a Olivier's Crake or Olivier's Rail

Jobling's Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names (2010) tells us:

Guillaume Olivier (fl. 1927) French zoologist and collector in Madagascar (Amaurornis)

... which is, almost to the letter, Identical with the entry in today's HBW Alive Key (except for the HBW taxonomy update into Zapornia).

Beolens & Watkins's Whose Bird? (2003) explains Olivier´s Rail as:

G Olivier was a French zoologist who collected in Madagascar. He wrote Monographie des pies-grieches du genre Lanius in 1944. There is another possibility. It might be that the rail was named after Marcel Achille Olivier (1789–1945), who was the Governor-General of Madagascar, from 1924 to 1929, in which latter year Grandidier and Berlioz described the bird.

*OD unseen by me [i.e. in Bulletin de l'Académie Malgache 10, "1927"(1929 )] but, as I understand it, reprinted in 1930, here:

Cet Oiseau, qui a été nommé en l’honneur de M. M. Olivier, gouverneur général de Madagascar, est malheureusement dans un état assez imparfait, notamment en ce qui concerne les rectrices, ...

Thereby; why the speculation? Why the "G" and "Guillaume" ... !?

Clearly (if we´re to trust the OD, and I find no reason to doubt it) this species was named in honour of a contemporary "M. [Monsieur] M. Olivier, gouverneur général de Madagascar" ... which, in my mind, ought to be: Mr. Marcel Olivier (1879–1945), "gouverneur général de Madagascar, du 20 février 1924 au 30 janvier 1929", later Président de la Compagnie générale transatlantique ... etc., etc.. Simply this guy, here. Or here.

Doesn´t it?

To me it seems like this bird was described in 1927 when Marcel Olivier was still at his Post (and published in 1929). If he as well was a zoologist, naturalist and collector, as have been told (above and elsewhere), about the almost unknown man behind "Olivier's Rail" is unknown to me. Or maybe it´s simply a mix-up with yet another Mr. Olivier, naturalist or likewise, active in those days, on Madagascar, alt. that later, recent Authors only quoted the above mentioned books? If his second name truly was "Achille" as claimed by Beolens & Watkins above is also unknown to me.

Either way not to be confused with the far earlier French entomologist and malacologist Guillaume Antoine Olivier (1756–1814).

To understand the full picture I guess you need to know French, which I don´t (... as I think most of you know by now).

However, I thought the above could be worth a second thought ... as I happened to notice the various, different claims.

Or am I missing something?

Björn

PS. What does The Eponym Dictionary of Birds (2014) say? The link to that book (that I have) doesn´t show that particular page.

 

[Paul Clapham]

You seem to be muddling through French documents reasonably well.

And yes, the document by Berlioz which you linked to does say

Il nous semble utile de reproduire ici la description originale qui en a été publiée dans le Bulletin de l'Académie Malgache, tome X, 1927...

Or: "It seems useful to us to reproduce here the original description of it, which was published in the Bulletin de l'Académie Malgache, volume X, 1927.

 

[Taphrospilus]

Even if I agree with Björns analysis. The G is for George:

Georges Olivier: Monographie Des Pies-Grieches Du Genre Lanius, Lecerf, Rouen, 1944

e.g here to find.

Assume there is no eponym dedicated to him.

 

[Björn Bergenholtz]

So it seems; Georges Olivier (1893–1968), Author of Monographie des pies-grièches du genre Lanius (1944), here ... possiby even doubled up, as in; "Georges G. F. Olivier", here.

To my knowledge he´s not commemorated in any birds. Sure makes one wonder how Beolens et al connected him to the Rail in question!

Well, well, thats water under the bridge ...

 

[Taphrospilus]

In L'Oiseau et la revue française d'ornithologie from 1968:

Georges OLIVIER (1893 - 1968) Notre Société a perdu le 27 juin 1968 l'un de ses membres les plus anciens, les plus actifs et les plus fidèles. Georges Olivier était né à Elbeuf le 25 février 1893. Sa famille y tenait alors une place considérable, tant comme industriels que comme grands propriétaires fonciers. Ses parents habitaient alors une vieille et belle demeure, c La Cerisaie » ...

... possiby even doubled up, as in; "Georges G. F. Olivier"

According Archive en ligne Archives départementales de Seine-Maritime Cote 4E 10025 p. 85 of 353 is the full name Gaston Georges Fredéric Elias Joseph Olivier.

 

[Taphrospilus]

PS. What does The Eponym Dictionary of Birds (2014) say? The link to that book (that I have) doesn´t show that particular page.

The Eponym Dictionary of Birds

Olivier's Rail Amaurornis olivieri Grandidier & Berlioz, 1929 [Alt. Sakalava Rail]
Guillaume C. Olivier (DNF) was a French zoologist who collected in Madagascar, although the rail might have been named after Marcel Achille Olivier (1879–1945), who was the Governor-General of Madagascar (1924–1929) in which latter year Grandidier and Berlioz described the bird.

 

[Taphrospilus]

Clearly (if we´re to trust the OD, and I find no reason to doubt it) this species was named in honour of a contemporary "M. [Monsieur] M. Olivier, gouverneur général de Madagascar" ... which, in my mind, ought to be: Mr. Marcel Olivier (1879–1945), "gouverneur général de Madagascar, du 20 février 1924 au 30 janvier 1929", later Président de la Compagnie générale transatlantique ... etc., etc.. Simply this guy, here. Or here.

According here p. 176/207 Achille Henri Raymond Marcel Olivier which would fit to Wikidata. Haven't found the full record yet.