Sylvia speciosa Temminck

LeCroy, Mary, 2013, Type Specimens Of Birds In The American Museum Of Natural History Part 11. Passeriformes: Parulidae, Drepanididae, Vireonidae, Icteridae, Fringillinae, Carduelinae, Estrildidae, And Viduinae, Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 2013 (381), pp. 1-155 : 21-22

[ Sylvia speciosa Temminck ]

Sylvia speciosa (ex Wied ms) Temminck (in Temminck and Laugier 1820 –1839), 1824, livraison 49, pl. 293, fig. 2 (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil).

Now Conirostrum speciosum speciosum (Temminck, 1824) . See Wied, 1831: 710; Allen, 1889: 217; Hellmayr, 1935: 314–316; Lowery and Monroe, 1968: 82–83, Dickinson, 2001: 46, Dickinson, 2003: 815, Dekker and Quaiser, 2006: 37; and Hilty, 2011: 261.

Temminck (1824: livr. 49, pl. 293, fig. 2) based his name, Sylvia speciosa , on a Wied manuscript name and pictured it in plate 293, figure 2. A specimen, RMNH 90238, is considered the holotype of speciosa (Dekker and Quaiser, 2006: 37) . Wied was generous in sending specimens to Temminck, already labeled with the names he intended to give them. Because Wied’s own publication was delayed for many years, Temminck’s use of some of the names Wied had written on his labels made Temminck the author of those names. In the description of speciosa, Temminck credits ‘‘P. Max’’ (5 Prince Maximilian) with the name. It seems logical that Temminck would have deposited the specimen used for the illustration in RMNH, where he was the director.

However, AMNH 4352, male (on Wied label), collected in ‘‘Brasilia,’’ by Maximilian, Prince of Wied, was considered by Allen (1889: 217) to be the specimen used by Temminck for his illustration, but he credited Wied (1831: 708) with the description. This cannot be correct, as Temminck’s description came out seven years prior to Wied’s publication. Wied (1831: 710) said ‘‘ Temminck giebt, nach dem von mir ihm mitgetheilten Exemplare, eine ziemlich gute Abbildung dieser Species, wo aber die Beine und der Schnabel unrichtig colorirt sind.’’ This implies that Wied sent Temminck more than one specimen, and the type status of the AMNH specimen is unresolved.

Allen (1889: 217) gave the collecting locality of the AMNH specimen as Rio de Janeiro, but that is the locality given by Temminck for the specimen he used. The locality on the Wied label on AMNH 4352 is given as ‘‘Brasilia’’ as is usual on Wied’s labels. Wied (1831: 709–710) said that the species was not rare around Rio de Janeiro and that later he had found it the province of Bahia, in the area of Angicos. Thus, it is not certain where the AMNH specimen was collected. The Wied label bears the number ‘‘139’’ written in pencil and of unknown significance. Allen did not find this species listed in Wied’s catalog.

Hellmayr (1935: 314) refers to Wied (1831: 710), and says the type is in AMNH, probably basing this on Allen. AMNH 4352 remains in the type collection because it bears the type label added by Allen, but another label has been added to indicate that its status is unresolved.

Dickinson (2001) has studied the publication dates of the various livraisons of Temminck and has shown that 1824 is the correct date for livraison 49.

The genus Conirostrum was included by Lowery and Monroe (1968: 82) as a genus incertae sedis in the Parulidae . It is usually now included in the Thraupidae ( Dickinson, 2003: 815) .