[Taxacom] "Bos domesticus" issue

[Douglas Yanega]

Hi, all. It came to my attention today that there is a dispute over the 
taxonomy of the "Bali cattle" (a type of banteng), as to whether it 
should be "Bos domesticus" or "Bos javanicus domesticus". My initial 
thought was "Wait - could *either* of these really be correct? Surely 
that name must have been used for regular cattle and not the banteng."

In trying to sort this out, I've consulted Wilson & Reeder's definitive 
work, "Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic 
Reference, Volume 1" (see pp. 691-692). There are several authorities 
that have published the species (or subspecies) epithet domesticus and 
it was either originally placed in the genus Bos or moved there later. 
The oldest such citation I can find listed is Erxleben, 1777 (there is 
also domesticus Fitzinger, 1860 as well). The point is this: Bos 
domesticus Wilckens, 1905 (used for the banteng) surely cannot be a 
valid name under the ICZN because the name would be a junior homonym of 
Bos domesticus Erxleben, 1777. This is an entirely different question 
from whether or not it is a species or a subspecies. Regardless of its 
taxonomic status, it cannot be named "domesticus", unless the genus it 
was placed in formerly, Bibos, is restored as a valid genus. Evidently, 
that is why no one had recognized or addressed this problem; it didn't 
become a problem until Bibos was placed as a subgenus of Bos, which 
means that Wilckens' name requires a replacement.

But, I don't dabble in mammal taxonomy, so even though what I find 
Googling doesn't suggest anyone knows about the problem, I'm curious as 
to whether this IS known, and someone is doing (or has done) something 
about it.

Peace,

-- 
Doug Yanega      Dept. of Entomology       Entomology Research Museum
Univ. of California, Riverside, CA 92521-0314     skype: dyanega
phone: (951) 827-4315 (disclaimer: opinions are mine, not UCR's)
              https://faculty.ucr.edu/~heraty/yanega.html
   "There are some enterprises in which a careful disorderliness
         is the true method" - Herman Melville, Moby Dick, Chap. 82