BZN Volume 66, Part 1, 31 March 2009

Abstracts of Cases

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Abstracts of the Applications published on on 31 March 2009 in Volume 66, Part 1 of the Bulletin of Zoological Nomenclature

Comment or advice on any of these Applications is invited for publication (subject to editing) in the Bulletin and should be sent to the Executive Secretary, International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature, c/o The Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London SW7 5BD, U.K. (e-mail: iczn@nhm.ac.uk).

A list of open cases and instructions on submitting comments are available.

 

Case 3475 (see Comments BZN 66:2)

Myrmarachne MacLeay, 1839 (Araneae, SALTICIDAE): proposed conservation of the generic name

Jason A. Dunlop
Museum für Naturkunde der Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, D-10115 Berlin, Germany (e-mail: jason.dunlop@museum.hu-berlin.de)

David Penney
Earth, Atmospheric and Environmental Sciences, The University of Manchester, Manchester, M13 9PL, U.K. (e-mail: David.Penney@manchester.ac.uk)

Abstract. The purpose of this application, under Article 23.9.3 of the Code, is to conserve the generic name Myrmarachne MacLeay, 1839 for a well-known and widespread group of extant, ant-mimicking jumping spiders (Araneae, SALTICIDAE) by suppression of a little-used senior subjective synonym, Entomocephalus Holl, 1829, introduced for a fossil spider preserved in either Eocene Baltic amber or perhaps in Subrecent copal. Holl (1829) based this name on drawings in an earlier work by Schweigger (1819). This original description did not state the number of specimens, but only one was figured, which we presume to represent the holotype by monotypy. Its repository could not be traced and we are not aware of subsequent specimens which could provide a neotype. However, the illustration of an ant-like salticid by Schweigger is of sufficient quality that we consider it likely that Entomocephalus and Myrmarachne are synonyms.

Keywords. Nomenclature; taxonomy; Araneae; SALTICIDAE; Myrmarachne; Entomocephalus; Myrmarachne melanocephala; salticid spider; Baltic amber.

 

Case 3467

ZOSIMIDAE Seifried, 2003 (Crustacea, Copepoda, Harpacticoida): proposed emendation of spelling to ZOSIMEIDAE to remove homonymy with ZOSIMINAE Alcock, 1898 (Crustacea, Decapoda, XANTHIDAE)

Rony Huys and Paul F. Clark
Department of Zoology, Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London SW7 5BD, U.K. (e-mail: rjh@nhm.ac.uk and pfc@nhm.ac.uk)

Abstract. The purpose of this application, under Articles 29 and 55.3.1 of the Code, is to remove homonymy between the family-group names ZOSIMINAE Alcock, 1898 (Crustacea, Decapoda) and ZOSIMIDAE Seifried, 2003 (Crustacea, Copepoda) by changing the spelling of the junior homonym. It is proposed that the entire name Zosime Boeck, 1873 (Copepoda) be used to form ZOSIMEIDAE, leaving the stem of the senior homonym (based on the name Zosimus A.-G. Desmarest, 1823; Decapoda) unchanged. Zosimus A.-G. Desmarest, 1823 and Zosime Boeck, 1873 are respectively the type genera of ZOSIMINAE Alcock, 1898 (Decapoda) and ZOSIMIDAE Seifried, 2003 (Copepoda).

Keywords. Nomenclature; taxonomy; Crustacea; Decapoda; Copepoda; Harpacticoida; XANTHIDAE; ZOSIMEIDAE; ZOSIMIDAE; ZOSIMINAE; Zosime; Zosimus; Zosime typica; cosmopolitan.    

 

Case 3484

NOMIIDAE Gozis, 1875 (Insecta, Coleoptera): proposed emendation of spelling to NOMIUSIDAE to remove homonymy with NOMIINAE Robertson, 1904 (Insecta, Hymenoptera)

Michael S. Engel
Division of Entomology (Paleoentomology), Natural History Museum, and Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, 1501 Crestline Drive– Suite 140, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS 66049–2811, U.S.A. (e-mail: msengel@ku.edu)

Patrice Bouchard
Canadian National Collection of Insects, Arachnids and Nematodes, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, 960 Carling Avenue, Ottawa, ON, K1A 0C6, Canada (e-mail: patrice.bouchard@agr.gc.ca)

Abstract. The purpose of this application, under Articles 29 and 55.3, is to emend the family-group name NOMIIDAE Gozis, 1875 (Insecta, Coleoptera), a senior homonym of NOMIINAE Robertson, 1904 (Insecta, Hymenoptera), long-considered a synonym of PSYDRINA LeConte, 1853, thereby removing the homonymy between the two names. It is proposed that the stem of the generic name Nomius Laporte, 1835, on which the beetle family-group name is based, be emended to give NOMIUSIDAE, while leaving the bee family-group name (based on Nomia Latreille, 1804) unaltered.

Keywords. Nomenclature; taxonomy; Hymenoptera; Coleoptera; CARABIDAE; NOMIINAE; NOMIUSIDAE; Nomia; Nomius; Nomia curvipes; Nomius graecus; Morio pygmaeus; ground beetles; sweat bee; Nearctic; Palaearctic; Afrotropical; Regions; Asia; Australia.    

 

Case 3463 (see comments BZN 66:1, 66:2, 66:3, 66:4)

Testudo gigantea Schweigger, 1812 (currently Geochelone (Aldabrachelys) gigantea; Reptilia, Testudines): proposed conservation of usage of the specific name by maintenance of a designated neotype, and suppression of Testudo dussumieri Gray, 1831 (currently Dipsochelys dussumieri)

J. Frazier
Conservation and Research Center, National Zoological Park, Smithsonian Institution, 1500 Remount Road, Front Royal, VA 22630, U.S.A. (e-mail: kurma@shentel.net)

Abstract. The purpose of this application, under Article 75.8 of the Code, is to conserve the specific name Testudo gigantea Schweigger, 1812 in its customary usage for the giant land tortoise (family TESTUDINIDAE) found on Aldabra Atoll in the western Indian Ocean. Taxonomic and nomenclatural confusion in the 19th and early 20th centuries led to competing and contradictory proposals between 1982 and 2006 to supplant T. gigantea Schweigger, 1812, first with T. elephantina Duméril & Bibron, 1835 and then with T. dussumieri Gray, 1831. As a corollary, Aldabrachelys Loveridge & Williams, 1957, the genus-group name erected for the Aldabra tortoise, was supposedly reduced to a junior synonym of either the extinct Mascarene genus/subgenus Cylindraspis Fitzinger, 1835, or the South American genus/subgenus Chelonoidis Fitzinger, 1835, and replaced as the name of the Aldabra tortoise by the generic name Dipsochelys Bour, 1982. To stabilise the accustomed name of this species as Geochelone (Aldabrachelys) gigantea, a neotype of T. gigantea Schweigger, 1812 was designated in 2006. A subsequent claim of the rediscovery of the long-lost holotype now again threatens this usage and stable nomenclature by (1) rendering T. gigantea a junior subjective synonym of T. denticulata Linnaeus, 1766, (2) resurrecting the former nomen oblitum Testudo dussumieri Gray, 1831 for the Aldabra tortoise, and (3) setting aside the neotype of T. gigantea; this action also again threatens the established use of Aldabrachelys. The supposed holotype rediscovery is not unequivocally proven, and for the sake of nomenclatural universality and stability, it is proposed that the neotype designation of 2006 be affirmed and that T. dussumieri Gray, 1831 be suppressed.

Keywords. Nomenclature; taxonomy; Testudines; TESTUDINIDAE; Aldabrachelys; Chelonoidis; Cylindraspis; Dipsochelys; Geochelone; Testudo; Testudo carbonaria; Testudo denticulata; Testudo dussumieri; Testudo elephantina; Testudo gigantea; land tortoises; Aldabra Atoll. 1. Schweigger’s (1812) much cited    

 

Case 3472 (see Comments BZN 66:2)

Cetiosaurus Owen, 1841 (Dinosauria, Sauropoda): proposed conservation of usage by designation of Cetiosaurus oxoniensis Phillips, 1871 as the type species

Paul Upchurch
Department of Earth Sciences, University College London, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, U.K. (e-mail: p.upchurch@ucl.ac.uk)

John Martin
6 The Nook, Great Glen, Leicester LE8 9GQ, U.K. (e-mail: Johnmartin424@aol.com)

Michael P. Taylor
Palaeobiology Research Group, School of Earth & Environmental Sciences, Burnaby Building, Burnaby Road, University of Portsmouth, Portsmouth, PO1 3QL, U.K. (e-mail: dino@miketaylor.org.uk)

Abstract. The purpose of this application, under Article 81.1 of the Code, is to preserve stability in the taxonomy of sauropod dinosaurs by designating Cetiosaurus oxoniensis as the type species of Cetiosaurus. The genus Cetiosaurus (including the species C. medius and C. oxoniensis) was established during the earliest period of research on sauropod dinosaurs, and is historically significant. The name Cetiosaurus was fixed to the type species Cetiosaurus medius, a sauropod of indeterminate affinities; however, the fragmentary nature of the type material of C. medius, combined with the subsequent description of much more complete Middle Jurassic sauropod material as Cetiosaurus oxoniensis, has meant that subsequent literature has overwhelmingly adopted C. oxoniensis over C. medius as the primary exemplar of Cetiosaurus. Stability would be best served by designating Cetiosaurus oxoniensis as the type species of the genus Cetiosaurus in place of the current type species, C. medius.

Keywords. Nomenclature; taxonomy; Dinosauria; Sauropoda; CETIOSAURIDAE; Cetiosaurus; Cetiosaurus oxoniensis; Cetiosaurus medius; England; Europe; Middle Jurassic.    

 

Case 3474

Aplonis Gould, 1836 (Aves: STURNIDAE): proposed conservation of spelling

Richard Schodde
Australian Biological Resources Study, GPO Box 787, Canberra City, A.C.T. 2601, Australia (e-mail: rschodde@grapevine.com.au)

Walter J. Bock Department of Biological Sciences, Columbia University, New York City, NY 10027, U.S.A. (e-mail: wb4@columbia.edu)

Abstract. The purpose of this application, under Articles 23.9.3 and 81.1 of the Code, is to conserve the long- and widely-accepted spelling Aplonis Gould, 18 October 1836 for the Indo-Australasian glossy starlings (STURNIDAE) by suppression of the prior but little used spelling Aplornis Gould, 1 or 3 October 1836.

Keywords. Nomenclature; taxonomy; Aves; STURNIDAE; Aplonis; Aplornis; Aplonis marginata; glossy starlings; Indo-Australasia.    

 

Case 3431 (see Comments BZN 66:2)

Procynosuchus Broom, 1937 (Therapsida, Cynodontia): proposed precedence over Cyrbasiodon Broom, 1931 and Parathrinaxodon Parrington, 1936

Christian F. Kammerer
The University of Chicago, Committee on Evolutionary Biology, 1025 E. 57th Street, Room 402, Chicago, IL 60637, U.S.A. (e-mail: cfkammer@uchicago.edu)

Fernando Abdala
Bernard Price Institute for Palaeontological Research, University of the Witwatersrand, Private Bag 3, WITS 2050, Johannesburg, South Africa (e-mail: nestor.abdala@wits.ac.za)

Abstract. The purpose of this application, under Articles 23.9.3 and 81.2.3 of the Code, is to conserve the generic name Procynosuchus Broom, 1937 for a group of Permian cynodonts (family PROCYNOSUCHIDAE) by giving it precedence over the older names Cyrbasiodon Broom, 1931 and Parathrinaxodon Broom, 1936 whenever these genera are considered synonymous. These cynodonts are of considerable importance to synapsid phylogeny and represent a key point in widely used examples of transitional series in the fossil record.

Keywords. Nomenclature; taxonomy; Therapsida; Cynodontia; PROCYNOSUCHIDAE; Procynosuchus; Cyrbasiodon; Parathrinaxodon; Procynosuchus delaharpeae; Cyrbasiodon boycei; Parathrinaxodon proops; Permian; Africa; Germany; Russia.  

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