Acanthorhynchus tenuirostris subsp. regius Salomonsen
Creators: name: , Mary
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2011
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Chordata
Aves
Passeriformes
Meliphagidae
Acanthorhynchus

description: <i>Acanthorhynchus tenuirostris regius</i> Salomonsen <i>Acanthorhynchus tenuirostris regius</i> Salomonsen, 1966a: 11 (King Island, Bass Strait, Australia). Now <i>Acanthorhynchus tenuirostris dubius</i> Gould, 1837. See Salomonsen, 1967: 438, Schodde and Mason, 1999: 325–327, Christidis and Boles, 2008: 185–191, and Higgins et al., 2008: 582– 583. HOLOTYPE: <b>AMNH 693497</b>, subadult male, collected on King Island, 39.50S, 144.00E (USBGN, 1957), Bass Strait, Tasmania, Australia, on 22 April 1914, by Thomas Tregellas. COMMENTS: Salomonsen gave the AMNH number of the holotype in the original description. It was from the Mathews Collection via the Rothschild Collection, but was not cataloged by Mathews. The number ‘‘752’’ on Tregellas’ label refers to the number of this species in Mathews (1908). This specimen is apparently unique, and the King Island population is probably now extinct (Schodde and Mason, 1999: 326). It was already rare in 1914; Tregellas’ note on the reverse of his label reads: ‘‘Very scarce on the island, &amp; only seen on the correa, where this specimen was obtained.’’ I have reexamined this holotype and find that my measurements are almost exactly the same as those given by Salomonsen: wing 71 mm, bill from base 32, tarsus 22. While the measurements of bill and tarsus are large, the specimen does not appear to be aberrant. There are a number of feathers missing on the top of the bill, but Salomonsen’s measurement was made from the joint of the culmen with the skull. Because individuals in all populations are quite variable in measurements, some approaching those of the type of <i>regius</i>, and because additional specimens from King Island are unlikely, I agree with Schodde and Mason (1999: 326) that <i>regius</i> should be considered a synonym of <i>dubius</i>.
description: Published as part of <i>Mary, 2011, Type Specimens Of Birds In The American Museum Of Natural History Part 9. Passeriformes: Zosteropidae And Meliphagidae, pp. 1-193 in Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 2011 (348)</i> on pages 155-156
description: {"references": ["Salomonsen, F. 1966 a. Preliminary descriptions of new honey-eaters (Aves, Meliphagidae). Breviora 254: 1 - 12.", "Salomonsen, F. 1967. Family Meliphagidae. In R. A. Paynter, Jr (editor), Check-list of birds of the world, vol. 12: 338 - 450. Cambridge, MA: Museum of Comparative Zoology, ix + 495 pp.", "Schodde, R., and I. J. Mason. 1999. The directory of Australian birds. Passerines. Collingwood, Victoria: CSIRO Publishing, 851 pp.", "Christidis, L., and W. E. Boles. 2008. Systematics and taxonomy of Australian birds. Collingwood, Victoria: CSIRO Publishing, viii + 277 pp.", "Higgins, P. J., L. Christidis, and H. A. Ford. 2008. Meliphagidae (honeyeaters). In J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, and D. Christie (editors), Handbook of birds of the world, vol. 13, Penduline-tits to shrikes: 498 - 691. Barcelona: Lynx Edicions, 879 pp., 60 pls., 536 photographs.", "Mathews, G. M. 1908. Handlist of the birds of Australasia. Emu 7 supplement: 1 - 108."]}