Cisticola terrestris nakuruensis van Someren

LeCroy, M., 2008, Type Specimens Of Birds In The American Museum Of Natural History. Part 7. Passeriformes: Sylviidae, Muscicapidae, Platysteiridae, Maluridae, Acanthizidae, Monarchidae, Rhipiduridae, And Petroicidae, Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 313 (1), pp. 1-287 : 43

Cisticola terrestris nakuruensis van Someren

Cisticola terrestris nakuruensis van Someren, 1922: 207 (Nakuru plains).

Now Cisticola brunnescens nakuruensis van Someren, 1922 . See Lynes, 1930: 163–166, 650, and Urban et al., 1997: 211.

LECTOTYPE: AMNH 592912 , adult male, collected on the Nakuru plains, on 16 May 1918, from the V.G.L. van Someren Collection. From the Rothschild Collection.

COMMENTS: In the original description, van Someren noted that the type was a male from Nakuru plains collected on 16 May 1918, had the crown plain, and was in the Rothschild Collection. Of the specimens of nakuruensis that came to AMNH from Rothschild, five have the locality written as ‘‘ Nakuru plains’’ in a hand different from that on all of the other labels of nakuruensis, which are labeled ‘‘Nakuru’’ in van Someren’s hand. Of these five, three are female and two are male, all collected on 16 May 1918. Hartert (1928: 215) did not further distinguish between the two male specimens. Lynes (1930: 650) indicated a type and gave measurements of wing, 54 mm, and tail, 26 mm. My measurements of AMNH 592912 are identical to those of Lynes. Taking this into account with the fact that this specimen also bears a Rothschild type label and that the back of its field label is annotated ‘‘type of C. terr. nakuruensis’’, I consider it to be the lectotype indicated by Lynes. AMNH 592921, the second male, now a paralectotype, measures wing 53 mm and tail 27 mm. In the original description, van Someren noted that specimens from Escarpment, Naivasha, Nakuru, and southern Kavirondo were included in nakuruensis; this would include all Rothschild specimens from those localities collected prior to February 1920 (the closing date of the manuscript; van Someren, 1922: 3), because van Someren worked in the Rothschild Collection while writing his paper. The following AMNH specimens are paralectotypes (with collectors’ names in parentheses): males: AMNH 592907, Escarpment (Doherty); AMNH 592908, Nakuru (Turner for Meinertzhagen); AMNH 592909, Nakuru (J.P. Cook); AMNH 592913–592920, 592922– 592925, Nakuru (van Someren); AMNH 592921, Nakuru plains (van Someren); females: AMNH 592880, Escarpment (Doherty); AMNH 592926–592928, Nakuru (van Someren); and 592929–592931, Nakuru plains (van Someren). Nakuru is at 00.17S, 36.04E ( Polhill, 1988).

It is necessary to correct some of the information that I sent M. Louette (see Louette et al., 2002: 48) prior to my having investigated the type of nakuruensis in depth. As noted above, AMNH 592912 is the lectotype, having been so indicated by Lynes (1930: 650). There also have proven to be a great many more paralectotypes of nakuruensis than I had identified.