Corvus Macrorhynchos, Wagler, 1827

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 : 28

Corvus Macrorhynchos ̔ MS Temminck’ Wagler, 1827: species 3, Corvus [p. 313 of species chapters]

TL: Nova-Hollandia, Nova-Guinea, in insulis Sumatra et Java [ Australia, New Guinea, Sumatra & Java]; restricted to Java ( Blake & Vaurie 1962: 275).

Now [ex parte] Corvus macrorhynchos macrorhynchos Wagler, 1827 . See Meinertzhagen 1926: 85, Blake & Vaurie 1962: 275, Madge & Burn 1999: 163, Dickinson 2003: 514, Dickinson et al. 2004b: 124.

SYNTYPE: ZMB 1494 [specimen not located in May 2005]. [No sex or age given]. Loc.: Neuholland [ Australia, error for?Sunda Islands]. Date: [before 1812]. Ex.Coll.: Sieber. [Mount or Ex, A/R].

COMMENTS: Friedrich Wilhelm Sieber (fl. 1793–1812) explored Brazil on behalf of his master, Johann Centurius Graf von Hoffmannsegg (1766–1849). In 1812 he returned to Europe. In London Sieber exchanged some of his Brazilian birds for specimens of 65 bird species from New South Wales ( Gebhardt 1964: 336). The present bird, probably collected in the Sunda Islands, may have been included among these ‘Australian’ birds. The ZMB acquired Sieber’s collection in 1824. The original description by Wagler (1827) is based on specimens in the collections of the Sturm family in Nuremberg and of Sieber. The original description, however, also included a Temminck’s MS name. Thus, also birds of Temminck’s collection are part of the syntypical series by this indication. Furthermore, the original description cited names or/and illustrations in the publications of Dampier (1697: 81), Latham (1801: 117, Variable Crow) and Raffles (1822: 300, Corvus corax ). One further syntype each is found at the ZSM and the RMNH. No type material has so far been located at the NKMBA and the university of Erlangen where some Sturm specimens are housed (cf. Steinheimer 2003b: 144). The ZSM syntype, numbered A15, was originally also from Sieber’s collection, but was later obtained by Sturm (cf. Stresemann 1916: 287 and Meinertzhagen 1926: 85 who referred to the Sturm type as presumable holotype, and http://www.gbif-vertebrata.de/, accessed 28 July 2008). The RMNH syntype, numbered 90607, was collected by Heinrich Boie (1794–1827) in Java during his ill-fated visit from 1826 until his early death. It later became part of Temminck’s collection ( Dekker & Quaisser 2006: 63). The name Corvus macroryhnchos probably is based on a mixed type series. Further investigations are wanted. See Dickinson et al. (2004a: 96–102) for a detailed discussion of this species-group.