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Issue: Vol. 3395 No. 1: 23 Jul. 2012
Type: Articles
Published: 2012-07-23
DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.3395.1.2
Page range: 18–32
Abstract views: 31
PDF downloaded: 1

Schweigger’s (1812) chelonian types from the extinct eighteenth century Portuguese “Royal cabinet of natural history of Ajuda”: some contributions for their identification and nomenclatural implications

CEHFCi (Centro de Estudos de História e Filosofia da Ciência), University of Évora, Palácio do Vimioso,Largo Marquês de Marialva, 8, 7000-809 Évora, Portugal Museu Nacional de História Natural e da Ciência, Rua da Escola Politécnica, 58, 1250 Lisbon, Portugal
Reptiles et Amphibiens, UMR 7205 OSEB, Département Systématique et Evolution, Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, CP 30, 25 rue Cuvier, F-75005 Paris
Reptilia Alexandre Rodrigues Ferreira August Friedrich Schweigger Testudo gigantea Podocnemis expansa Phrynops geoffroanus Royal Cabinet of Natural History of Ajuda Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle

Abstract

The work Prodromus Monographiae Cheloniorum, published by Schweigger in 1812, has recently been the subject ofseveral studies. One result of these studies—the rediscovery of the Testudo gigantea Schweigger, 1812holotype—triggered an intense debate in The Bulletin of Zoological Nomenclature, where, among other issues in dispute,the identity and nature of the specimen indicated as the holotype for the species is put in question. Using historical sources,mostly unpublished, and analysis and comparison of taxidermic characteristics of the specimen with other specimens ofthe same nature, we can clearly trace its origin to the extinct Royal Cabinet of Natural History of Ajuda in Lisbon, fromthe “philosophical journey” of Alexandre Rodrigues Ferreira to the specimens transported to Paris by Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire in 1808, thus helping dispel any doubts regarding the identity and nature of what is being identified as the Testudogigantea holotype, along with other chelonian specimens. This information is of great importance in the current taxonomicdebate as well as in recognizing the historic importance of the Royal Cabinet of Natural History of Ajuda and Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire’s 1808 mission to Lisbon.

References

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