Galerita lutea Brehm

LeCROY, M. A. R. Y., 2003, TYPE SPECIMENS OF BIRDS IN THE AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY. PART 5. PASSERIFORMES: ALAUDIDAE, HIRUNDINIDAE, MOTACILLIDAE, CAMPEPHAGIDAE, PYCNONOTIDAE, IRENIDAE, LANIIDAE, VANGIDAE, BOMBYCILLIDAE, DULIDAE, CINCLIDAE, TROGLODYTIDAE, AND MIMIDAE, Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 278 (278), pp. 1-156 : 20-21

Galerita lutea Brehm

Galerita lutea Brehm, 1855: 124 (no locality given).

Now Galerida cristata isabellina Bonaparte, 1850 . See

Hartert, 1918b: 21, and Keith et al., 1992: 101.

LECTOTYPE: AMNH 457760 , adult female, collected in ‘‘Abyssinien’’ (= Ethiopia), by Alfred E. Brehm. From the Brehm Collection via the Rothschild Collection.

COMMENTS: No locality was given in the original description, contra Hartert (1918b: 21). Brehm (1855: 124) did not indicate how many specimens he had, but this specimen is labeled Galerita lutea in Brehm’s hand and the locality noted as ‘‘Abyssinien’’. It is much worn and fad­ ed, having been mounted, but can be matched by specimens of G. c. isabellina . It is the only specimen I found labeled lutea by Brehm and was designated as such on the Rothschild type label. It was incorrectly cataloged in AMNH as the type of G. flava crassirostris .

The type status of this specimen was questioned by Hartert (1918b: 21) because he thought Brehm had given ‘‘Nordostafrika’’ as the type locality, when in fact this locality refers to the previously mentioned taxon, G. flava (J. Haffer, personal commun.).