Semeioptera wallacei G. R. Gray, 1859

Steinheimer, Frank D., 2005, The type specimens of Paradisaeidae, Cnemophilidae and Ptilonorhynchidae (Aves) in the Museum für Naturkunde of the Humboldt-University of Berlin, Zootaxa 1072 (1), pp. 1-25 : 18-20

Semeioptera wallacei G. R. Gray, 1859

Gray, G. R. (1859): [Zoological Society (report of the meeting March, 22 nd 1859)]. The Athenaeum 1639: 425.

Now Semeioptera wallacei wallacei G. R. Gray, 1859 . See comments below and Bruce and McAllan 1990: 474, ICZN 2003: 79–80; nec Mayr 1962b: 188, Cracraft 1992: 15, Frith and Beehler 1998: 419, Dickinson 2003: 518.

ARGUABLE SYNTYPE: ZMB 15473. Adult male. Batschian [= Bacan Island, Moluccas, 0°36' S, 127°30' E]. Coll.: Wallace (via Stevens). [Skin; data on ZMB label; no further data] .

COMMENTS: George Robert Gray based his new name on data and a sketch (of a male specimen) which Alfred Russell Wallace (1823–1913) sent to Samuel Stevens (1817– 1899) in London, first cited at the 22 nd of March 1859 meeting of the Zoological Society in London ( Wallace 1859, Gray 1859c), then published in The Athenaeum (26 March 1859, Gray 1859; fixed as original description by Bruce and McAllan 1990: 474), The Literary Gazette (26 March 1859, Gray 1859a), The Ibis (April 1859, cf. Gray 1859b), the Proceedings of the Zoological Society (July or August 1859 = 31 August 1859, erroneously fixed by Schodde and Bock 1997: 178 as published on 31 October 1859, cf. Gray 1859c, Duncan 1937: 71, Gould 1859: 103) and the Supplement of The Birds of

Australia (1 September 1859, Gould 1859: plate LII). On the correct name, authorship and priority see the discussion between McAlpine (1979: 108–110), Mlikovský (1989: 49), Bruce and McAllan (1990: 472–474, 1999: 274–279) and Olson (1998: 176–181) on one side, and LeCroy (1983: 144–145, 1988: 212–213), LeCroy and Bock (1989: 49–50), and Schodde and Bock (1997: 172–182, 1998: 181–185, 1999: 279–280) on the other side. The latter demanded the conservation of the younger synonym Semioptera wallacii by suppressing the original descriptions in The Athenaeum and The Literary Gazette. The ICZN (2003: 79–80) ruled against this suppression and the original name remains therefore Semeioptera wallacei , first published in The Athenaeum.

Theoretically , any male specimen of Standardwing in Wallace's hands before writing the letter on 29 th October 1858 must be considered a syntype. Wallace , however, had just arrived on Batchian Island on 21 October , only eight days before writing the letter. On 30 January 1859, Wallace despatched overland the first bird consignment containing four (according to Wallace's letter from 28 January 1859) or six male (according to Wallace's notebook), one female and one juvenile birds of Semeioptera ( Baker 2001: 279) .

Four specimens were directly purchased by the BMNH, registered BMNH 1859.6.13.1 ­ BMNH 1859.6.13.4, all now unaccounted for. These missing BMNH specimens may be the four dataless specimens now housed in the BMNH skin collection, of which three are ex­mounted specimens and one skin (cf. Sharpe 1877: 179, no. h–k: one male, three indet. sex). BMNH 1873.5.12.141, 1873.5.12.142 and 1873.5.12.144 are from a later batch and probably come from the second consignment of Wallace to Stevens. The remaining original specimens were probably those offered to the ZMB and the VMM (see below). Wallace's main bird collection from Batchian was not despatched before he had returned to Ternate, i.e. between 20 April and 1 May 1859. Any Semeioptera from the latter consignment, 19 males and 17 females, has no type status, including the specimen BMNH 1873.5.12.141, chosen by Warren and Harrison (1971: 591–592) as one of the syntypes (cf. Wallace 1860: 61, Baker 2001: 279).

On 18 June 1859, just before the first consignment had arrived in London, Samuel Stevens , Wallace's agent, had already written to Prof. Dr. Wilhelm Karl Hartwig Peters (1815–1883) of the Zoological Museum of Berlin informing him of the expected arrival of Wallace's Standardwings in London : " I am expecting from my Correspondent [i.e. Wallace] daily, a new + very distinct Bird of Paradise, a new Genus altogether, I have had a sketch of it, it is about 10–12 inches long, metallic green [;] I believe with 2 remarkable plumes white, projecting from the sides of the wings [.] The Price for this remarkable Bird will be £ 20, I expect 2 or 3 specimens [;] if you would like one I will reserve one for you." (Historical Dept. ZMB, Sign. I Stevens, S. II, Blatt 2). But it was not until 5 April 1861 that the Berlin Museum received any specimen of Semioptera (Historical Dept. ZMB, Sign. SI, Verwaltungsakte Postjournal 1855–162, Blatt 148, entry 160). On 14 April 1861 the ZMB finally accepted the offer and paid £ 12 for a pair of Wallace's Standardwings sent to Berlin earlier that month (Historical Dept. ZMB, Sign. I Stevens, S. II, Blatt 3; only the male bird was originally described so that the female bird, ZMB 15474, has no type status). Later, in 1864, Stevens sent out a sales list to " Ornithologists & Directors of Museums ", again offering a pair of Wallace's Standardwings, this time for 200 shillings ( Stevens [1864]: 3). These birds were certainly from the second consignment .

The question now arising is if Stevens had put aside two birds from the first consignment for Berlin Museum or if he just sold any bird to Berlin. The Victoria Museum in Melbourne received a male specimen ( VMM B.19714; Ian McAllan in litt., September 2005) from John Gould on 31 December 1860, which might also be one of the original types. A specimen in the CUMZ, numbered 27/ Para /20/a/1 (Benson 1999: 187) was purchased from Wallace's son, W. G. Wallace, in 1950. This bird is certainly not from the first consignment and one has to doubt that Wallace kept any specimen from the first lot for his own pleasure .

Perhaps the four BMNH specimens registered in 1859 as well as the birds at Berlin and Melbourne Museum are best considered possible syntypes. The Berlin specimen is not mentioned in Meise's MS .