Lemur nigerrimus Sclater, 1880

Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 1880, p. 451

Current valid name: Eulemur flavifrons (Gray, 1867)

Referred specimen: ZMB 7935 (old number = A 5181), signed in A-Catalog with a type asterisk, male, skin, from Madagascar, received from Zologischer Garten Berlin 11 February 1892 [entry as Lemur fulvus flavifrons]. The description of Sclater (1880) based on a male, who lived in the London Zoological Garden, collected by Badger in 1878 in Madagascar. The whereabouts of the original specimen is unknown [according to Paula Jenkins, personal communication, a specimen could not be found in any entry book of the BMNH London]. According to the entry book of the Zoological Garden Berlin, the specimen [ZMB 7935] was received as Lemur nigerrimus from Antwerp on 12 September 1889. At that time, large animal auctions were held in Antwerp, where many zoo directors came to purchase animals [personal communication Dr. Andreas Pauly]. After all, it seems unlikely that ZMB 7935 is the holotype specimen.