Saxicola thoracica Lichtenstein, 1823: 32

Frahnert, Sylke, Louette, Michel & Eckhoff, Pascal, 2021, Type specimens of birds of the genus Batis (Aves: Platysteiridae) at the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin, Zootaxa 5052 (2), pp. 249-260 : 250-253

Saxicola thoracica Lichtenstein, 1823: 32

Now: Batis capensis capensis Linnaeus, 1766 . See Sharpe (1879).

Syntype: ZMB 2828 , skin, former mount, male, collected by Ludwig Krebs in South Africa between 1820 and 1822 .

Type locality: “ Cape ” = (Cape of Good Hope, South Africa), here changed to South Africa (see remarks).

Remarks: The description is part of an auction catalogue ( Lichtenstein 1823). In the description no type was chosen, but Lichtenstein based the description on males only (“ capitis ducta fasciaque pectoris lata atris ” = head and breast with broad black band). All specimens of males offered in the auction as well as the specimens remaining in the general collection (registered mounts) and in the collection of duplicates (unregistered skins) with that species name during that time are to be considered syntypes. For all these categories the number of specimens is unknown. Furthermore, it is unknown where the specimen(s) from the auction ended up. In his printed overview about the collection Lichtenstein (1854) listed two specimens of Platystira thoracica and four of P. strepitans Lichtenstein, 1854 , which was later corrected to 6 specimens of P. strepitans (handwritten correction on the printed copy in the ZMB collection library). The General Collection Catalogue ZMB-AVES gives no specimens for P. thoracica but 6 specimens of P. strepitans [ZMB 2827‒2829, ZMB 2831‒2833, General Collection Catalogue ZMB-AVES around 1856: collected by L. Krebs (1792‒1844), J. L. L. Mund (1791‒1831) and L. Maire, one specimen from the collection of W. Bullock (1773‒1849)], which means that the collection catalogue was produced later than Lichtenstein (1854) or independent of it. The corrections in Lichtenstein (1854) were done to bring the information of this printed work to the same standard as the collection catalogue. On the other hand, this indicates that Lichtenstein himself in fact regarded two of the six P. strepitans as P. thoracica around 1854 and that these are possible syntypes for P. thoracica (depending on their entry date to the museum).

As there were no inventory numbers given in the collection before 1856, the type (s) in the ZMB collection can only be identified by their historical documentation such as shipments and labels, and this was only partly possible. Four of the six specimens of P. strepitans / thoracica in the ZMB collection were sent by Krebs (ZMB 2828, ZMB 2831‒2833). According to the shipment lists there were only three specimens of P. strepitans that came with Krebs’ seventh shipment from “Vorgebirge der Guten Hoffnung” [ South Africa] and arrived on 20 October 1823 in Berlin ( Ffolliott & Liversidge 1971). They all (two males, one female) were included in the collection and are mentioned in the entry catalogue of the museum ( Lichtenstein 1811 ‒1857; 124, 69‒71). As the introduction to the auction catalogue of Lichtenstein was written in September 1823, the entry of the shipment would have been theoretically too late for inclusion in the auction catalogue. However, Lichtenstein could potentially have added a further individual later. Another possibility is that specimens arrived with earlier shipments without determinations or with an erroneous one. As an unequivocal assignment of the specimens to a single shipment is not possible, the locality cannot be ascertained. Further, the locality “ Cape ” as given in the description cannot be confirmed.

ZMB 2831‒2833 each bear the name P. strepitans on their historical label. ZMB 2833 is a female and cannot be a type specimen. For ZMB 2828 the name Saxicola thoracica was written on a historical label during in the process of producing a study skin from the mount, a process then done especially with types (possibly around 1890). Unfortunately, the label of the mount was not kept. On the remaining label the specimen is determined as a type specimen for Saxicola thoracica . As this is the only specimen with the historical name S. thoracica in the ZMB collection, ZMB 2828 is regarded as a syntype for this species.

Specimen ZMB 2827 of the Bullock Collection arrived in Berlin in 1819 but became lost after 1856. Thus, the historical label is no longer available, and it could have been a further syntype. ZMB 2829 was sent by Mund and Maire, and arrived in Berlin in December 1823, too late to be a type specimen. On the historical label of the former mount ZMB 2829 and in the shipment list, P. strepitans is written, meaning that Lichtenstein (1854) listed this specimen as P. strepitans .

In summary, ZMB 2828 is the only specimen which can be assigned to the type series of Saxicola thoracica Lichtenstein, 1823 . In the description, “ Cape ” is given as the locality. The collection catalogue gives “Südafrika” [ Southern Africa ] for ZMB 2828 . The shipment lists for the Krebs specimens before 1823 give “Vorgebirge der Guten Hoffnung”. As this is a very rough locality, and the specimens were not unquestionably assigned to the single shipments, we give South Africa as the type locality. The whereabouts of other possible type specimens from the auction are unknown.