Neoryctes Arrow, 1908 (Pentodontini)

Allsopp, Peter G., 2022, Replacement names for Beckius Dechambre, 1992 and Syrictes Prell, 1936, and validation of Neoryctes Arrow, 1908 (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Dynastinae), Zootaxa 5165 (2), pp. 294-300 : 298

Validity of Neoryctes Arrow, 1908 (Pentodontini)

Linell (1898) established Pseudoryctes Linell, 1898 for Oryctes galapagoensis Waterhouse, 1845 , collected by Charles Darwin in the Galápagos Islands. However, this name was preoccupied by another dynastine genus, Pseudoryctes Sharp, 1873 from Australia. Three replacement names have been proposed for Linell’s genus: Neoryctes Arrow, 1908 ; Parapseudoryctes Mutchler, 1925 ; and Neobothynus Prell, 1936 . Both Parapseudoryctes and Neobothynus are valid, albeit perhaps unnecessary and not in common usage. Neoryctes is in common usage.

Stirling (1891) proposed the replacement name Notoryctes for Psammoryctes Stirling, 1889 , the genus of Australian marsupial moles ( Mammalia: Notoryctidae ). However, he included the statement “Professor Newton suggested Notoryctes as being appropriate, in view of its Australian habitat, and this name is, I think, preferable to Neoryctes , which had been previously proposed by Dr. Sclater”. This appears to be the first published reference to Sclater’s proposed name, Sclater (1890) having published a note on the species but not naming it and later ( Sclater 1891) using Notoryctes Stirling, 1891 .

However, “ Neoryctes Sclater in Stirling, 1891 ” is not an available name since it was not valid when proposed (Article 11.5 of the Code), and, therefore, not a homonym of Neoryctes Arrow, 1908 . Consequently, Neoryctes Arrow, 1908 remains the valid name for the dynastine genus, and Notoryctes Stirling and Notoryctidae remain valid names for the marsupial moles. Neoryctes Tong, 1997 ( Mammalia: Palaeoryctidae ) was replaced by Nuryctes Tong, 2003 .

Five valid species are known in Neoryctes Arrow, 1908 : Neoryctes galapagoensis (Waterhouse, 1845) (= N. patagonicus Arrow, 1908 ), N. linelli (Mutchler, 1938) , Neoryctes moreti Dechambre, 1991 , Neoryctes similis Ratcliffe, 2014 , and Neoryctes williamsi Cook, Howden, & Peck, 1995 ( Fig. 4 ).

Figures

FIGURES 3–4. Dorsal view of males. 3, Kirprellius syrichtus (Fabricius, 1775), new combination (image by Johan Pretorius, https://inaturalist.ca/photos/15855083, Creative Commons). 4, Neoryctes williamsi Cook, Howden, & Peck, 1995, paratype (image by Alain Galant).