Some "unseen" descriptions … now seen! (1 Viewer)

[Björn Bergenholtz]

Quick one ...

Prosheppardia < Sheppardia HAAGNER 1909 (James's Key here).

OD of; "SHEPPARDIA, gen. nov." = here:

[...]
"SHEPPARDIA GUNNINGI, Sp. nov."
[...] Type in Transvaal Museum. Male; Mzimbiti, near Beira. 5th January, 1908. Collector : P. A. Sheppard.

By the way, the "BATIS SHEPPARDI" (today's ssp. Batis fratrum sheppardi) is/was described on the preceding page, collected by "(P. A. Sheppard)", and the very start of this Paper tells us:

Amongst a small collection of skins sent me in August, 1908, for verification and identification by Mr. P. A. Sheppard, of Beira, several appeared to be new to science.

Off to work!

/B

 

[l_raty]

But, ... note that Jackson's OD of "Cinnyris sheppardi" (from 1910) cleary states (my bold blue):

Obs. This species has been named in honour of Mr. R. W. Sheppard, who has recently been engaged in preparing a catalogue of Mr. Jackson's collection of bird-skins.

Hrm ...

This seems to be an entirely different person.

From: https://books.google.com/books?id=5ThDAAAAYAAJ&q=autobiography

[...]
Roy Watson Sheppard was born in the county town of Bedford, Bedfordshire, England, on October 12, 1891. He was the third son of a family of four boys and four girls. His father, Henry J. Sheppard, was a science-master at the Bedford Modern School, but later, while still in Bedford, entered the family business of florists and nurserymen. When he was still quite young, the family moved to London where Roy received most of his formal education in grammar and church schools in the southwestern districts, but continued to receive much help from his father, particularly in botany and the other natural sciences.
Leaving school at an early age, Roy obtained a position on the staff of the British Museum of National History at South Kensington, as a student-attendant in the Department of Zoology. At first he worked in the entomological division under Charles Waterhouse, and later in the ornithological section under Dr. Bowdler Sharpe. After a few years, he resigned his position on the staff and became a free-lance, working student under a special grant from the Museum trustees.
While working in this capacity, he was sent on a one man expedition to the was Inner Hebridean Islands of western Scotland to collect small mammals, certain birds, and some insects, including Siphonaptera from the trapped mammals.
[...]

Roy Watson Sheppard later emigrated to Niagara Falls, Ontario, where he worked as an entomologist (on forest pest control), until his retirement in Nov 1957. He died in 1985 in Niagara Falls: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/151430998/roy-w-sheppard

While in Canada, he authored quite a few ornithological notes (i.a. in Auk and Canadian Field-Naturalist; e.g., see this), as well as a book titled "Bird life of Canada's Niagara frontier", first published in 1960, but which received a supplement in 1968 and was re-edited in 1970.
He was the first Honorary President of the Niagara Falls Nature Club. (He is the third person from the left, in the first picture at http://niagarafallsnatureclub.org/about/club-history .)

RW Sheppard was 19 in 1910, when Cinnyris sheppardi was published by Jackson; but he must have started working in the ornithological section at South Kensington some time earlier than this, if he worked under Sharpe (who died in Dec 1909), as claimed in his autobiography. Note that it was Frederick John Jackson's habit to present the types of his new taxa (as well as other rare specimens) to this museum (see his obituary in Ibis, p. 5).

 

[Taphrospilus]

For sur Jacquet was in Egypt and maybe in Sudan to collect. As I found in Die Vögel am Nil: von seiner Mündung bis in das Gebiet seiner Quellflüsse (Weisser Nil) auf Grund eigener Reisen und Beobachtungen in Wort und Bild dargestellt from Alexander Ferdinand Koenig:



So Jacquet shot a Tawny eagle (Aquila rapax) in Assam in Feb. 1910. Not sure if he collected in South America as well.

For sake of completeness was described as Chlorospingns venezuelanus jacqueti Hellmayr, 1921 here (but link already provided by Björn).

The Eponym Dictionary of Birds claims:

Common Bush Tanager ssp. Chlorospingus flavopectus jacqueti Hellmayr, 1921
Dr H. Jacquet (DNF) was in Caracas (1920).

But of course less than after this thread in the key. If Hermann Jacquet was ever in Caracas is less than obvious from OD. I would speculate from S. M. Klages collection (but this is may speculation).

P.S. I was wondering from here why we know Hellmayr was the author, but I am sure from the footnote here we can conclude it was him.

 

[l_raty]

P.S. I was wondering from here why we know Hellmayr was the author, but I am sure from the footnote here we can conclude it was him.

Also, p. 25:

Herr C. E. Hellmayr beschreibt 12 neue Formen aus dem neotropischen Gebiet:

(This is a meeting report: authorship falls under Art. 50.2 of ICZN -- the person who actually wrote the report is not thereby automatically made an author of the names that appear in it.)

 

[PScofield]

Hermann Philipp Jacquet
Birth	21 Aug 1859 Frankfurt (Main), Hessen-Nassau, Preußen, Germany
Death	26 Aug 1923 Hessen (Hesse), Deutschland (Germany), Frankfurt

Absolutely no reason to think he was in Caracas. Clearly collected by S. M. Klages. People name birds after people for reasons other than that the person shot them.

 

[Taphrospilus]

So even new information with the middle name. Well done .

 

[Taphrospilus]

No. 8:
● grucheti (OD, attached) … also incl. Marscarenotus.
x

No dout about the dedication as the OD states:

Etymologie: Cette espèce est dédiée à M. Harry Gruchet, ancient conservateur du Muséum d'Histoire naturelle de Saint-Denis, qiu s'est toujours intéressé à la faune disparue de l'île et a eu l'idée, avec Philippe Kaufmant, de rechercher des restes fossiles dans marais de l'Emitage.

The Eponym Dictionary of Birds claims:

Réunion Owl Mascarenotus grucheti Mourer-Chauviré et al., 1994 EXTINCT
Harry Gruchet (d.2013) was formerly a curator at Muséum d'Histoire Naturelle de Saint-Denis, Réunion. He was one of those who suggested where to look for fossils.

The Key to Scientific Names

Harry Gruchet (d. 2013) French ecologist, conservationist, Curator of Mus. d'Histoire Naturelle de St.-Denis, Réunion (‡Mascarenotus).

Maybe it time to find his birth? About his death here. But I think it is:

Harry Hyacinthe GRUCHET est né le 20 mai 1931 à Piton Saint-Leu. Il est décédé le 28 Janvier 2013.

 

[l_raty]

But I think it is:

Harry Hyacinthe GRUCHET est né le 20 mai 1931 à Piton Saint-Leu. Il est décédé le 28 Janvier 2013.

Same date here.
And same dates in the INSEE files (but the given names the other way around) -

GRUCHET	Hyacinthe Harry	Naissance	20/05/1931	Saint-Leu, La Réunion, La Réunion, France
		Décès	28/01/2013	Saint-Leu, La Réunion, La Réunion, France

(Although, note that this tree suggests his mother died in 1927.)

 

[PScofield]

Just an error in the geni tree that's her marriage date

 

[Taphrospilus]

Johann Casimir Benicken (1781-1838). German naturalist; was Stadtsekretär in Schleswig; wrote ia., in Isis: Beyträge zur nordischen Ornithologie, which I think we discussed earlier (in the auk thread?). Necrology [here].

Lestris Benickii Brehm 1824, "Benickes Raubmöve" [OD].
It seems that Brehm changed his mind about Benicken's name between 1824 and 1855, and that he emended his 1824 name to reflect this.

I assume in The Eponym Dictionary of Birds description 1924 is simply a typo? Or do I miss something.

Long-tailed Skua Lestris benickii C. L. Brehm, 1924 NCR [JS Stercorarius longicaudus]
Benicke (DNF) was the Town Clerk, probably of Schleswig. He was known to Brehm, who mentioned him in volume 3 of his Beiträge zur Vögelkunde: in Vollständigen Beschreibungen Mehrer (1822), as travelling from Schleswig to Rügen to observe the birds.

Here indeed he was named Benicke. No idea what he published in Annalen der Wetterauischen Gesellschaft für die Gesammte Naturkunde zu Hanau but Annalen der Wetterauischen Gesellschaft für die Gesammte Naturkunde zu Hanau - GDZ{%22pages%22:[15],%22panX%22:0.587,%22panY%22:0.569,%22view%22:%22info%22,%22zoom%22:0.916} named

Beneke. Assessor in Schleswig

The rest seems of course fully solved by Laurent.

 

[Björn Bergenholtz]

Here's an addition regarding the dedicatee commemorated in the Scientific name ...

...
No. 30:
● veronica
… in the subspecies (Nectarinia) Leptocoma sericea veronica MEES 1965 (OD, here).

X

And, as the link above doesn't work any longer, a new one to the OD = here [in Ardea 53 (1–2): p.46], as "Nectarinia sericea veronica", ... no dedication, no explanation, nothing.

Explained by Justin (in post #14, above) as:

No. 30: Veronica Joan Mees-Balchin the wife of G.F. Mees.

... which ended up in today's Key as:

veronica
Veronica Joan Mees-Balchin (fl. 1965) wife of Dutch ornithologist Gerlof F. Mees (Justin Jansen in litt.) (subsp. Leptocoma aspasia).

Thus, if we look at the Obituary after Gerlof F. [Fokko] Mees (1926–2013) it seems like his Wife Veronica might be (or was) Australian! At least she was still going (and still living) in Australia, in 1991. Also see Mr Mees Wikipedia page here.

Veronica's (full) name is also confirmed (by Stadsarchief Rotterdam) here (alt. here): "Brieven en telegram aan Gerlof Fokko Mees en zijn vrouw Veronica Joan Mees-Balchin [...] 1948, 1964, 1967, 1977 en 1978."

And, finally: here [in Kroniek van de Stichting Geslacht Mees, No. 66 (of Mei/May 2017), on page 22], below the heading VOGEL GENOEMD NAAR GERLOF MEES [which is a Notice about (the Family's Pride and Glory, I assume); Mees's Nightjar Caprimulgus meesi, a k a Mees’ nachtzwaluw (in Dutch)], we find the same Veronica as: ... geboren/born ... in 1938, in: "Busselton (West-Australie), dochter van Maurice Balchin en Violet Wilson". The same text also incl. an exact Birth date, (as well as a Marriage date), but I choose not post neither one of those dates here "in the open" – as she might be still alive (due to the risk of Identity theft).

Also note the Notitie: "bij Veronica: Bachelor of arts, University of Western Australia".

If she's still with us, or not, is unknown to me, but why not? 'Aussies' are a hardy bunch (and 84 isn't much of an age for a Lady) ...

Either way; enjoy!

Björn

PS. Just to be safe, as there's no dedication in the OD [and no female genitive ending (-ae) in the Scientific name], is there anyone who have seen an outspoken dedication directly pointing at Mrs Mees herself (anywhere, elsewhere, somewhere)? Preferably by Gerlof F. Mees himself?

 

[JustinJansen]

He married the Australian born Veronica in 1962 in Perth, but returned to The Netherlands to become curator at the Leiden collection in 1963. He retired in 1991 and went a year later back to Australia and remained here ever since (Voous, K H 1995. In de Ban van Vogels. Huizen, pp: 351-353).

So in 1965 when he described the new subspecies they were married two years, there is nothing in the OD, but I think the evidence is clear to what Veronica he points his finger.