Zosterops lateralis Sundevall, 1850: 101

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 : 550

Zosterops lateralis Sundevall, 1850: 101 .

VERBATIM TYPE LOCALITY: “ Hab. in Caffraria superiore, campestri, prope Vaal Revier (26- 27°). ”

CURRENT STATUS: Synonym of Zosterops pallidus Swainson, 1838 ; Zosteropidae ( Dickinson & Christidis 2014: 520) . Sometimes recognized as a subspecies (not supported by DNA) under the name Zosterops pallidus sundevalli Hartlaub, 1865 ; see below under comments for details.

STATUS REFERENCE: Dickinson & Christidis 2014: 520 and Bowie 2005: 823–824 (includes sundevalli Hartlaub, 1865 (see Gyldenstolpe 1926: 35, deserticola Reichenow, 1905 and haigamchabensis Bradfield, 1944).

TYPE MATERIAL: We can find no indication in Sundevall’s original description text that he had more than a single specimen at hand, but according to his acquisition catalogue he apparently had three available. Gyldenstolpe (1926: 35) refers to NRM 568713 [6678] as a “type”; we treat this as a lectotype designation of this adult male collected 5 August 1843 north of the Vaal River. The two paralectotypes are: NRM 555448 [6679], a study skin of an adult female collected 5 August 1843 north of the Vaal River ; and a specimen [6677] of unknown sex and only noted as “Caffr. Inf.” sent on exchange to Berlin in 1853 (but not found in the ZMB database) .

VERIFIED TYPE LOCALITY: North of Vaal River , North West Province .

COMMENTS: Collected on the same day as the type of Alauda fasciolata (see above). The type locality is probably just south of Potchefstroom. Since this name was shown to be a homonym of Zosterops lateralis (Latham, 1801) , a species from Australia and neighboring islands, Hartlaub created a substitute name, Zosterops sundevalli ( Hartlaub 1865: 8–9) . NRM 568713 is also the lectotype for Zosterops sundevalli . Zosterops pallidus Swainson, 1838 , based on “Dr. Burchell’s Coll. No. 43”, collected on the north bank of the Orange River, about 16 km east of Prieska on 18 Sept 1811, has priority over both names. The type specimen is in the Oxford University Museum of Natural History.