Gallinago heterocerca Cabanis

Mlíkovský, Jiří & Frahnert, Sylke, 2009, Type specimens and type localities of Siberian birds (Aves) described by Jean Cabanis, Zootaxa 2297, pp. 64-68 : 65

Gallinago heterocerca Cabanis

Gallinago heterocerca Cabanis, 1870a: 235 .

Now: Gallinago megala Swinhoe, 1861 . See Hartert (1921: 1664).

Type series: Cabanis (1870a: 235) presented the description of this species at the 23rd monthly meeting of the German Ornithological Society held on 4 April 1870. At that time he had at his disposal at least two specimens of this snipe from Lake Baikal, both of which qualify as its syntypes. Taczanowski (1889: 40) listed three MIZ specimens as types of this species (N.5357 and two unnumbered), one of which is still present in the MIZ (MIZ 34347), while two have been lost ( Mlíkovský 2007a: 48). It is unknown whether Cabanis had these specimens at his disposal, and their type status is thus uncertain ( Mlíkovský 2007a). Syntype: ZMB 19765 (B.7337), skin, ♂, collected by B. Dybowski on 17 May 1869 [= 29 May 1869] at Kultuk, Russia.

Syntype: ZMB 19766 (B.7339), skin, ♀, collected by B. Dybowski on 26 May 1869 [= 7 June 1869] at Kultuk, Russia.

Type locality: Cabanis (1870a: 235) stated only that the species was collected by Dybowski at “Baikalsee”, i.e. at “Lake Baikal” (see also Hartert 1921: 1664). Label data show that both certainly identified syntypes were collected at Kultuk, Irkutskaâ Province, Russia [51.72˚N, 103.68˚E]. Hence, we restrict here the type locality of G. heterocerca Cabanis to the latter locality.

Remarks: Specimen ZMB 2000.11486 (B.7863) was collected by Dybowski at Kultuk on 16 May 1870 [= 28 May 1870], i.e. after the description of the species by Cabanis, and thus has no type status.