Littlera phoenicea tasmanica Mathews

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 : 247

[ Littlera phoenicea tasmanica Mathews ]

Littlera phoenicea tasmanica Mathews, 1922b: 5 (Tasmania).

Now Petroica phoenicea Gould, 1837 . See Mayr, 1986d: 566, and Schodde and Mason, 1999: 384.

Mathews (1920a: 103) noted: ‘‘Mellor and White report that the species was fairly plentiful on Flinders Island. This island form appeared much lighter, both above and below (perhaps due to the time of year) than the Tasmanian bird.’’ The publication of the name tasmanica appeared subsequent to this, with Mathews (1922b: 5) there having noted that ‘‘The Tasmanian bird is a deeper, redder colour on the under-surface; the uppersurface is greyer.’’ The inference from the above quotations is that he considered males from the islands of Bass Strait to differ from those of Tasmania proper. No type was designated. Mathews had a single specimen from Tasmania, a female, which is a paratype of P. p. albicans (see above) and might also be considered a paratype of tasmanica. No specimen that could be considered a primary type was found in AMNH.