Malurus assimilis occidentalis

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 : 110

[‘‘ Malurus assimilis occidentalis ’’]

AMNH 602182, adult male, Coongan River, northwest Western Australia, Australia, collected on 17 August 1908, by F.L. Whitlock, bears a Mathews collection label with the name ‘‘ Malurus assimilis occidentalis ’’ marked ‘‘Type’’ and a Rothschild type label with the name ‘‘ Malurus assimilis occidentalis ’’. On this type label (but not in Hartert’s hand) is reference to the description in Novitates Zoologicae, 1911 (error for Mathews, 1912a: 360); on that page is the description of Malurus lamberti occidentalis above. I have found no evidence that Mathews ever named a form ‘‘ occidentalis ’’ in Malurus assimilis . The Mathews Collection contained three Coongan River specimens collected by Whitlock: the above-mentioned specimen, AMNH 602183 (adult male, 17 August 1908), and AMNH 602184 (immature male, 7 July 1908). These were cataloged by Mathews (nos. 2323, 2324, and 2325) as Malurus assimilis before 1910, before Mathews had concluded that assimilis North, 1901 was conspecific with lamberti Vigors and Horsfield, 1827 . Whitlock’s Coongan River specimens perhaps had been considered for type status before Mathews decided to use the Lake Way specimen instead. AMNH 602182 has been returned to the AMNH regular collection with an additional label explaining that it is not a type.