Taxacom: Lectotype question

[Douglas Yanega]

On 12/16/22 6:55 AM, John Grehan via Taxacom wrote:
> Colleagues, I would be grateful for input on the following situation:
>
> When Walker (1856) described the new species *Phassus signifer* he did not
> specify a primary type, but listed the following series:
>
> a. Silhet [Sylhet, now in Bangladesh]. From Mr. Argent's collection
> b, c. Ceylon [Sri Lanka]. Presented by R. Templeton, Esq.;
> d. Sarawak, Borneo. From Mr. Horsburgh's collection."
>
> In a revision of the genus, Tindale (1941) stated that ?Walker's type of
> this species, of which Butler's figure [Butler, 1886] is a good rendering,
> is a female from Sylhet (labeled ?Silhet, 47-36).
>
> It would appear that Tindale assumed that the Sylhet specimen was the type
> even though it was not designated as such by Walker. Does Tindale's
> designation of the Sylhet specimen as the 'type' qualify as a lectotype
> under the Code rules?
Tindale used the word "type" and indicated a single specimen from among 
the original three. That would appear to comply with the rule:

74.5.*Lectotype designations before 2000*

In a lectotype designation made before 2000, either the term 
"lectotype", or an exact translation or equivalent expression (e.g. "the 
type"), must have been used or the author must have unambiguously 
selected a particular syntype to act as the unique name-bearing type of 
the taxon. When the original work reveals that the taxon had been based 
on more than one specimen, a subsequent use of the term "holotype" does 
not constitute a valid lectotype designation unless the author, when 
wrongly using that term, explicitly indicated that he or she was 
selecting from the type series that particular specimen to serve as the 
name-bearing type.


-- 
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)
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