Muscicapa infuscata Blyth, 1870

Mlíkovský, Jiří, 2011, Nomenclatural notes on Cyornis and Rhinomyias flycatchers (Aves: Muscicapidae) of South-East Asia, Zootaxa 2985, pp. 64-68 : 65

Muscicapa infuscata Blyth, 1870

Salomon Müller (1804–1864) collected in Sumatra a few brownish flycatchers which he labeled Muscicapa infuscata , recognizing them as a species new for science. Blyth (1870: 165) studied them during the same visit to the RMNH as Boie’s Cyornis cyanopolia . He believed to have discovered in them females of his Cyornis unicolor Blyth, 1843 , which were unknown at that time (cf. Jerdon 1862: 465, 1872: 124–125, footnote), and presented their brief description in the same paragraph in which he combined Cyornis cyanopolia Boie with C. unicolor ( Blyth 1870: 165) . The name Muscicapa infuscata Müller thus was published by Blyth (1870: 165) as a synonym of Cyornis unicolor Blyth, 1843 (cf. Art. 11.6. of the Code). Note that Cyornis unicolor was described by Blyth (1843) on the basis of a single male and that no other specimens of this species were known when Blyth (1870) studied birds in the RMNH ( Jerdon 1872: 125–126).

Hartert (1902: 550) attributed Muscicapa infuscata to Blyth (1870), treated it as an available name and used it as a valid name for a taxon. He thus validated the name under the provisions of Art. 11.6.1. of the Code. The author of this name is Blyth (1870) following the provisions of Art. 11.6.1. and Art. 50.7. of the Code.

Blyth (1870) listed no specimens, but it is evident from his paper that he cited specimens labeled in the RMNH as Muscicapa infuscata Müller. These specimens are thus syntypes of Muscicapa infuscata Blyth, 1870 (Art. 72.4.3. of the Code). Dekker (2003: 68) listed two such specimens in the RMNH (RMNH 89620 and 89621). Both were believed to be females of Cyornis unicolor by Blyth (1870), but later revisions showed that both represent the flycatcher Rhinomyias umbratilis ( Strickland, 1849) , RMNH 89620 being an adult male and RMNH 89621 being an adult female of the latter species ( Finsch 1901a: 202; Dickinson et al. 2002; Dekker 2003: 68; Quaisser 2010: 66).

Blyth (1870: 165) mentioned that he examined in the RMNH specimens of Cyornis unicolor “from Sumatra, Java, and Borneo”. Specimens labeled as Cyornis cyanopolia originated from Java and those labeled Muscicapa infuscata originated from Sumatra. The mention of Borneo was perhaps based on three specimens collected by Carl Anton Ludwig Maria Schwaner (1817–1851) in Borneo in 1843 and later identified as Rhinomyias pectoralis ( Salvadori, 1868) = Rhinomyias umbratilis ( Strickland, 1849) by Finsch (1901a: 203, 1901b: 40; see Stone 1902: 686 for the synonymization of pectoralis ). However, Schwaner specimens were labeled by Coenraad Jacob Temminck (1778–1858), curator of birds at the RMNH, as “ Eopsaltria perspicillata ” ( Finsch 1901a: 203, 1901b: 40). Blyth (1870) did not mention the latter name and the mere mention of “Borneo” is not sufficient for the inclusion of Schwaner specimens in the type series upon which Muscicapa infuscata Blyth was based (see also Dickinson et al. 2002; Dekker 2003).