Hyperolius nasutus Günther, 1865

Parrinha, Diogo, Calado, Francisco M. G., Marques, Mariana P., Bauer, Aaron M. & Ceríaco, Luis M. P., 2025, Echoes of a lost museum: Revision of the herpetological collections sent by Barbosa du Bocage from the Lisbon Museum to the British Museum of Natural History, Vertebrate Zoology 75, pp. 353-404 : 353-404

Hyperolius nasutus Günther, 1865 *

Specimen.

Angola: Duque de Bragança : BMNH 1947.2.9.68 [ lectotype, originally BMNH 1864.10.28.14 ; Fig. 13 ] .

Comments.

Among the material from Duque de Bragança sent by Bocage in 1864, Günther identified three specimens of a new species he described as Hyperolius nasutus ( AHMB /CE/G76 , Günther 1865 a). In the short description, Günther (1865 a) did not specify a type, but instead provided measurements for a single specimen and mentioned that “ This species inhabits the province of Duque de Bragance, whence we have received it through M. Barboza du Bocage. Other specimens are in the Lisbon Museum ”. In his letter to Bocage, Günther listed one specimen that was presented to the British Museum (No. 10) and two others to be returned to Lisbon (Nos 15 and 16), identifying specimen No. 15 as the “ type ” ( AHMB /CE/G76 ; Fig. 5 ). Nevertheless, both Boulenger (1882 b) and Bocage (1895 a) referred to the specimen in the British Museum as the type. Perret (1976) did not note any type specimen referrable to this species in the Lisbon Museum, and subsequent authors continued to recognize BMNH 1947.2.9.68 as the holotype ( Marques et al. 2018; Frost 2024).

This information leads to two conflicting interpretations: one in which Günther designated a “ type ” in communication to Bocage – corresponding to specimen No. 15, returned to Lisbon –, and another in which the specimen effectively measured and described by Günther is considered as the “ type ” – corresponding to specimen No. 10, presented to the British Museum. In any case, although the specimen in the British Museum is generally regarded as the holotype ( Marques et al. 2018; Frost 2024), it is now clear that Günther examined three specimens, which collectively constitute the type series. Considering this conflicting information and potential interpretations, and the fact that the two specimens returned to Lisbon are now lost, we here designate BMNH 1947.2.9.68 (Fig. 13 ) as the lectotype of Hyperolius nasutus , which is still identified with the No. 10 in the original label and generally fits Günther’s (1865 a) description. Hyperolius nasutus senso lato is a known species complex with at least 16 recognized species ( Channing et al. 2013).

Figures

Figure 5. Extract from letter written by Günther on 25 July 1865 (AHMB / CE / G 76), listing the specimens sent by Bocage for determination, noting first 10 specimens as “ kindly presented to the B. M. ”.

Figure 13. Lectotype of Hyerolius nasutus (BMNH 1947.2. 9.68). Photos by DP.