Alauda fringillaris Sundevall, 1850: 99

Dean, W. Richard J., Åhlander, Erik & Johansson, Ulf S., 2022, Avian type localities and the type specimens collected by Johan August Wahlberg in southern Africa, Zootaxa 5134 (4), pp. 521-560 : 541-542

Alauda fringillaris Sundevall, 1850: 99 .

VERBATIM TYPE LOCALITY: “ In Caffraria superiore, campestri.”

CURRENT STATUS: Spizocorys fringillaris ( Sundevall, 1850) ; Alaudidae ( Dickinson & Christidis 2014: 445) .

TYPE MATERIAL: Sundevall, in his original description (1850: 99) gave no indication that he had more than a single female at hand. However, Sundevall’s acquisition catalogue indicated that he had six specimens that he identified as Alauda cheniana , but he later changed his mind and decided that one specimen belonged to a new undescribed species close to Alauda conirostris . This specimen should be treated as the single specimen in the type series and is a holotype, catalogue number NRM 569768 [6453], a study skin of an adult female collected 12 July 1843. See comments below for a discussion on geographical origin.

VERIFIED TYPE LOCALITY: Klerkspruit , Free State .

COMMENTS: Type locality corrected to Leeuw Spruit, Heilbron District by Gyldenstolpe (1934). Neither the original type locality nor the correction appear to be correct. There are a number of places called Leeuwspruit or Leeuw Spruit in the general area through which Wahlberg travelled in July 1843. The “Leeuwspruit” in the Heilbron district is at 27° 45’ south, 27° 14’ east, and is off the track of Wahlberg’s journey on that date. Wahlberg “pitched camp under the Drakensberg” (at the base of Bezuidenhout’s Pass at 28° 32’ south, 29° 12’ east) on 12 July 1843, and moved on up the Drakensberg where he camped for the night before travelling on to Leeuwriet which he reached on 18 July. The type of Alauda fringillaris was collected on 18 July 1843 at Leeuwriet, so the TL should be restricted to Leeuwriet (but see below, Figure 4 ).

However, the question of the locality of Leeuwriet and its present name remains. There was evidently some confusion by Wahlberg about names and dates. There are also problems with modern name changes and identifying the names of places that Wahlberg recorded in his travels. Leeuwriet (translated as lion + reeds) does not appear in any modern gazetteer in the context of Wahlberg’s travels and is not shown on Baines’ “Great Map” of old wagon routes from the Drakensberg to the Vaal River and beyond ( Stiebel et al. 2001). Map A, between pp. 128–129 in Craig & Hummel (1994), shows the possible route taken by Wahlberg from the top of the Drakensberg to Klerkspruit (also called Sandspruit) and then on to Vechtkop (Vegkop) which he reached on 23 July (see Figure 4 ). Leeuwriet is almost certainly the same place as Klerkspruit. A similar route and wagon track is shown on the map by Petermann (1868) who seems to have plotted Wahlberg’s route from Bezuidenhout’s Pass via Vegkop to Potchefstroom (and beyond), but without place names for most of the track. The type locality should be corrected to Klerkspruit, Free State.

Figures

FIGURE 4. Wahlberg’s route in 1843 (red dots) across the Free State from the Drakensberg Mountains at Bezuidenhout’s Pass to Potchefstroom via Skandinawiedrif across the Vaal River.