Lophocitta, Cabanis, 1840

Steinheimer, Frank D., 2009, The type specimens of Corvidae (Aves) in the Museum für Naturkunde at the Humboldt-University of Berlin, with the description of a new subspecies of Dendrocitta vagabunda, Zootaxa 2149 (1), pp. 1-49 : 5

L. [Lophocitta] ardesiaca ‘Cabanis MS’ Bonaparte, 1850: 374

TL: Java? [= Java]; erroneously corrected to Malacca ( Robinson & Kloss 1924: 328; cf. Blake & Vaurie 1962: 205, Dickinson et al. 2004b: 126); see below.

Now Platylophus galericulatus galericulatus (Cuvier, 1816) . See below. Blake & Vaurie 1962: 205, Madge & Burn 1999: 65, Dickinson 2003: 504, Dickinson et al. 2004a: 113, and Wells 2007: 121 treat the name P. g. ardesiacus as senior name for the Malayan population.

SYNTYPES: ZMB 1383. [ No sex or age given]. Loc.: Java. Coll.? Delarogue. Ex.Coll.: Delbrück. [Ex, Mus]. ZMB 1384. [No sex or age given]. Loc.: Java. Coll.? Delarogue. Ex.Coll.: Delbrück. [Ex, Mus].

COMMENTS: Bonaparte (1850; for dating of the work see the species’ account of Lophocitta histrionica ) referred to Cabanis’ MS and a doubtful type locality “Java” (birds from Java are almost black in body plumage). This was apparently corrected from Cabanis’ earlier reference to Sumatra 1 (where birds are distinctly reddish-brown). At the time of the original description only specimens at MHH and ZMB would have been at Cabanis’ disposal. Bonaparte explicitly named the MS to the catalogue of the Museum Heineanum ( Cabanis 1851b: 219) as the source for his name. He did, however, include his own description, indicating that Bonaparte also saw a specimen of this taxon on a visit to Berlin. Both descriptions are meagre and do not reveal the true identity of the name. Four specimens at the ZMB (and none at the MHH) qualify as potential types: ZMB 2002.595 from Malacca, ZMB 1383 & ZMB 1384 from Java, and ZMB 1385 from Sumatra. Because Cabanis later coined a new name for the mainland population, Platylophus malaccensis Cabanis, 1866 , it seems most probable that Cabanis did not use specimens from Malacca for the name. He might have accidentally renamed Platylophus galericulatus galericulatus from Java, making the two specimens from Java possible syntypes, or he might have used the Sumatran specimen, thereby creating a junior synonym for Platylophus galericulatus coronatus ( Raffles, 1822) . However, because Bonaparte named both the Sumatran (see species account of Lophocitta histrionica Bonaparte, 1850 ) and the Javan populations in his Conspectus Generum Avium ( Bonaparte 1850: 374), I conclude that the type specimens of Lophocitta ardesiaca Bonaparte, 1850 , are those from Java. Thus, the new taxonomy that applies is: Platylophus galericulatus malaccensis Cabanis, 1866 , for birds from the Malayan Peninsula; Platylophus galericulatus coronatus ( Raffles, 1822) for birds from Sumatra (and Borneo; ssp. lemprieri has not been studied here) and Platylophus galericulatus galericulatus (Cuvier, 1816) for birds from Java. The younger synonyms of the nominate subspecies are Lanius scapulatus M. H. C. Lichtenstein, 1823 , and Lophocitta ardesiaca Bonaparte, 1850 .