Lonchura monticola myolae Restall

LeCroy, Mary, 2013, Type Specimens Of Birds In The American Museum Of Natural History Part 11. Passeriformes: Parulidae, Drepanididae, Vireonidae, Icteridae, Fringillinae, Carduelinae, Estrildidae, And Viduinae, Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 2013 (381), pp. 1-155 : 125

Lonchura monticola myolae Restall

Lonchura monticola myolae Restall, 1995: 145 (Mt. Scratchley and Mt. Knotsford [sic], Owen Stanley Range, Papua New Guinea).

Now Lonchura monticola (De Vis, 1897) . See LeCroy, 1999: 216–217; Dickinson, 2003: 736; and Payne, 2010: 373–374.

LECTOTYPE: AMNH 721471 (not 421471), unsexed, collected on Mount Scratchley , 08.40S, 147.30E (PNG General Reference Map, 1984), Owen Stanley Mountains, Papua New Guinea, undated, collector not noted. From the Rothschild Collection.

COMMENTS: Restall designated syntypes in the original description by citing (incorrectly) the AMNH numbers. The second listed syntype was AMNH 721469 (not 421469) from Mount Knutsford (not Knotsford) in the Owen Stanley Mountains south of Mount Scratchley. According to Rothschild and Hartert (1915: 55) both of these specimens were collected by A.S. Anthony.

Restall said that the type locality of nominate Lonchura monticola was Mount ‘‘Edward Albert’’; however, its type locality is not Mount Albert Edward, but is Mount Scratchley, the same as that from which he named myolae. For a discussion of these localities and the types of Lonchura monticola , see LeCroy (1999: 216–217). Because the syntypes of myolae are from different localities and the position of the two localities were confused in the original description, I (LeCroy, 1999: 216) designated AMNH 721471 from Mount Scratchley as the lectotype of L. m. myolae. Thus it becomes a topotypical synonym of the nominate form. The specimens in AMNH, including the paralectotype, AMNH 721469, from Mount Knutsford do not appear to differ from Mount Scratchley specimens. Although Hicks (1987: 60) observed L. monticola at Myola and reported it as a downward extension of range, he noted no color differences and there are no specimens known from Myola.

Sharpe (1898: 60) described Munia nigritorquis from Mt. Albert Edward. M. nigritorquis has been shown to be a synonym of L. monticola ( Mayr 1941: 222) . Thus, the known range of L. monticola extends from Mount Albert Edward, 08.25S, 147.25E, at least to Mount Knutsford, 08.50S, 147.27E, in the Owen Stanley Mountains, including the Wharton Range.