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Ptilopus humeralis iobiensis Schlegel, 1873b: 16
Original description.— Schlegel characterised iobiensis as similar to humeralis being a bit smaller and lacking the rich purple patch on the lesser coverts.
Schlegel listed five specimens. Four had been collected by von Rosenberg on Jobi, the type locality. As number 5 of his type series, he explicitly included the holotype of Ptilopus insolitus Schlegel, 1863 (RMNH 87788): "type du Ptilopus insolitus acquis 1862". He considered it an aberrant specimen ("monstrosité") of his new taxon and mentioned it without any collecting details, ignoring "New Caledonia" mentioned on the label and in the original description.
Type specimens.— All five syntypes listed by Schlegel are still present in the collection:
RMNH 87789, Ad. ♂, skin. Loc.: Jobi, [= Yapen, Indonesia], 08.iv.1869. Leg.: C.B.H. von Rosenberg.
RMNH 87790, Ad. ♀, skin. Loc.: Jobi, [= Yapen, Indonesia], 08.iv.1869. Leg.: C.B.H. von Rosenberg.
RMNH 87791, Ad. ♂, skin. Loc.: Jobi, [= Yapen, Indonesia], 22.iv.1869. Leg.: C.B.H. von Rosenberg.
RMNH 87792, Ad. ♂, skin. Loc.: Jobi, [= Yapen, Indonesia], 28.iv.1869. Leg.: C.B.H. von Rosenberg.
RMNH 87788, Ad., skin. Loc.: “New Caledonia” [error]. Leg.: -. Received: 1862.
Taxonomy.— The most distinctive character of insolitus compared to iobiensis is the swollen bright red cere, which is found in both sexes of insolitus (Gibbs et al., 2001). RMNH 87788 shows this feature in contrast to the remaining four syntypes. Moreover, the broad ashy-grey shoulder-patch, grey markings on scapulars and tertials identify RMNH 87788 as insolitus (Gibbs et al., 2001). There is no doubt either about the taxonomic identity of the remaining syntypes from Jobi. They can indeed be identified as iobiensis. Consequently, the type series is composed of two taxa, Ptilinopus insolitus (Schlegel, 1863) and P. iozonus iobiensis (Schlegel, 1873) (e.g. Baptista et al., 1997; Gibbs et al., 2001; Dickinson, 2003). There is no geographical overlap in the distribution range of these two taxa, with insolitus being endemic to the Bismarck Archipel and iozonus to New Guinea and surrounding islands (Gibbs et al., 2001).
Type locality.— The type locality of insolitus caused confusion with New Caledonia being an obvious error. However, this type locality is of relevance for subsequent nomenclatural decisions in this case.
Overlooking the original description of insolitus and the merger of insolitus in iobiensis, Cabanis & Reichenow (1876: 326) described a new species of Ptilopus on the basis of a single male collected by Hüsker during the expedition of the "Gazelle" to New Ireland. Referring to the swollen red cere, Cabanis & Reichenow named it Ptilopus globifer. One year later Sclater (1877), who was surprised that Schlegel (1873) considered insolitus a monstrous variety of Ptilopus iobiensis, stated that there is no doubt of the validity of insolitus and listed globifer and insolitus in synonymy. He referred to the specimen mentioned by Cabanis & Reichenow (1876) and added another specimen collected on Duke of York Island.
Hartert (1924) officially corrected the type locality of insolitus to New Ireland "where the species is not rare, and from where the first specimen, collected during the voyage of the Gazelle, became known – cf. Journ. F. Orn., 1876, p. 326."
Nomenclatural consequences.— Schlegel (1873) considered all syntypes of iobiensis to be part of a single taxon, including the type of insolitus. According to the Principle of Priority of the Code (ICZN, 1999, Art. 23.1), the oldest available taxon name has priority over its junior synonym, in this case insolitus over iobiensis. However, the younger name may be used as valid in case the synonymy is found to be erroneous (ICZN, 1999, Art. 23.3.6). For more than 100 years the name insolitus has been applied to birds from the Bismarck Archipel (New Ireland, New Britain and Duke of York Island) and iobiensis to specimens from Northern New Guinea and adjacent islands from the Geelvink to the Astrolabe Bay, including Yapen and Tarawai (Salvadori, 1983). Both have been used as valid names, regardless of the fact that the type series of iobiensis involved specimens of both taxa. In order to confirm current taxonomy and preserve stability of the usage of these two well-established names, fixation of the name iobiensis to a sole name-bearing type specimen is advised. Syntype RMNH 87792 gives a perfect match of the original description and represents well what is identified as iobiensis.
According to ICZN (1999), Art. 74.7., we herein designate as lectotype of Ptilopus humeralis iobiensis Schlegel, 1873: RMNH 87792, Ad. ♂, skin. Loc.: Jobi, [= Yapen, Indonesia], 28.iv.1869. Leg.: C.B.H. von Rosenberg.
Following ICZN (1999), Art. 74.1.3. the specimens listed below (former syntypes) become paralectotypes:
RMNH 87789, Ad. ♂, skin. Loc.: Jobi, [= Yapen, Indonesia], 08.iv.1869. Leg.: C.B.H. von Rosenberg.
RMNH 87790, Ad. ♀, skin. Loc.: Jobi, [= Yapen, Indonesia], 08.iv.1869. Leg.: C.B.H. von Rosenberg.
RMNH 87791, Ad. ♂, skin. Loc.: Jobi, [= Yapen, Indonesia], 22.iv.1869. Leg.: C.B.H. von Rosenberg.
RMNH 87788, Ad., skin. Loc.: “New Caledonia” [error]. Leg.: -. Received: 1862. [= holotype of Ptilopus insolitus Schlegel, 1863 = Ptilinopus insolitus].