This case came to light during research relating to the type specimens of the ornithological collection of the Univ. of Turin (MZUT), Italy, held in the Museo Regionale di Scienze Naturali (MRSN). It had already been noted by Dickinson et al. (2002) and in a footnote on p. 132 these authors wrote that ‘Salvadori was apparently unaware of the name proposed by Wardlaw Ramsay’. They listed Salvadori's name as a junior synonym, believing it to be based on separate type material. More likely he became aware of it only four or five years later. It seems probable that Wardlaw Ramsay never sent Salvadori an offprint, and we suggest that this was because Wardlaw Ramsay's uncle, the Marquis of Tweeddale, died in 1878 and Wardlaw Ramsay was commissioned to prepare the collected papers of his uncle for publication, a task he completed in 1881.

The specimens involved

Wardlaw Ramsay's name.— Warren & Harrison (1971: 544) listed BMNH (now NHMUK) 1888.4.1.305 as the holotype of Hemixus sumatranus Wardlaw Ramsay, 1882. The original description dealt with a specimen that had come from Count Salvadori ‘in a small lot of duplicates of M. Beccari's collection’. Wardlaw Ramsay appears to have assumed that he had discovered the one specimen that existed of his new species, probably aided in this idea by the fact that Salvadori's notes would appear to have classified it as Hypsipetesmalaccensis. Reference to the new taxon appeared in Ibis in the following year, in a paper concerning the birds of Sumatra (Nicholson 1883: 246) which one might have supposed that Salvadori would see. Indeed, it is possible that Count Salvadori was sent an offprint but it did not reach him, although Wardlaw Ramsay's preoccupation, mentioned above, may suggest one was not sent.

Salvadori's name. — Salvadori (1879: 221), in the catalogue of Sumatran birds collected by Odoardo Beccari, listed eight specimens obtained on Mount Singalan in 1878, between 28 June and 18 July (or perhaps 9 August), identifying them as Hypsipetes malaccensis Blyth, 1845. As discussed above, one of these specimens, no. 62 of the Beccari collection, was sent in a lot of duplicates to R. G. Wardlaw Ramsay, whose description of this is mentioned above. A few years later Salvadori (1888)¹, seemingly unaware of the name proposed by Wardlaw Ramsay, realised that the specimens collected by Beccari did not belong to Hypsipetes malaccensis and described his ‘new species’ Hemixus sumatranus.

Salvadori, recalling the 1879 paper, reiterated that there were five males, two females and one unsexed bird, but he did not remark on the fact that one or more of the eight specimens was no longer in the collection. It is probable that Salvadori did not revisit the eight specimens collected by Beccari. However, the reference in the 1888 paper is completely explicit and there is no doubt that all of the specimens listed in 1879 as Hypsipetes malaccensis become syntypes of Hemixus sumatranus Salvadori, 1888 (but not of Wardlaw Ramsay's name), and that the specimen sent to Wardlaw Ramsay, his holotype, must be counted as one of them.

As reported by Salvadori (1916: 29) and by Elter (1986: 240), in the MZUT collection there is a type specimen of Hemixus sumatranus Salvadori (Fig. 1), which was donated by Marquis Giacomo Doria in 1878, along with another 19 specimens collected by O. Beccari on Sumatra, probably to reward Salvadori for having studied the entire collection. Arbocco et al. (1979: 212) reported the presence of three syntypes of H. sumatranus Salvadori in the Museo Civico di Storia Naturale “Giacomo Doria”, Genova (MSNG), the basis for listing the Genoa Museum by Dickinson et al. (2002). The sixth specimen collected on Sumatra by Dr Beccari for which we have information is no. 129, collected 11 July 1878. According to the SysTax database ( http://www.systax.org, accessed 9 November 2017) it is located at the Senckenberg Naturmuseum, Frankfurt-am-Main, and referred to as a ‘typus’ of Hemixussumatranus Ramsay.

The subsequent literature

Salvadori's Hemixus sumatranus was mentioned in Ibis under ‘Recently published ornithological works’ (Anon. 1888: 368). A few years later, Oberholser (1899: 212–213), listing all the species of the genus Ixos, which in his opinion ‘must supplant Hemixus Hodgson’, quoted ‘Ixos sumatranus (Salvadori)’ and made no reference to the binomen introduced six years earlier by Wardlaw Ramsay.

Büttikofer (1900: 226–228) appears to have been the first author to mention both Wardlaw Ramsay and Salvadori's names. He was obviously aware that the specimens described came from the same locality, but he considered both names to be junior synonyms of Hemixus malaccensis Blyth and did not refer either to their types or to their homonymy. Chasen (1935: 192) considered Ixos sumatranus (Wardlow [sic] Ramsay) to be a valid subspecies of Ixos virescens Temminck, 1825, but did not refer to Salvadori's description.

H. G. Deignan (in Mayr & Greenway 1960: 291–292) continued to consider H. sumatranus Wardlaw Ramsay as a valid subspecies of Ixos virescens, as did Dickinson et al. (2002: 132) noting synonymy with H. sumatranus Salvadori.

No author has previously clarified that Wardlaw Ramsay's holotype must be a syntype of Salvadori's name. The issue we address here is whether the two names (one being both a junior homonym and a junior synonym) are both validly introduced. That the earlier name is validly introduced has not been challenged, nor do we see any basis for challenging it. So, we focus here on the status of Salvadori's name.

The term ‘homonym’, whether primary or secondary, is defined explicitly to apply to names with the same spelling established for different nominal taxa (ICZN 1999, Art. 57.2 and 57.3). The Code makes clear that a junior primary homonym is—except in exceptional circumstances—permanently invalid (Art. 57.2). Note that the Glossary of the Code defines ‘invalid’ as meaning ‘Of an available name or nomenclatural act…’ (ICZN 1999: 107). So, published in accord with the rules in the Code, a name can be available—as Salvadori's name is—but invalid.

Figure 1.

Syntype of Hemixus sumatranus Salvadori and two old labels, showing original identification as Hypsipetes malaccensis Blyth (above) and subsequent designation as ‘type’ of Hemixus sumatranus Salvadori (below), Museo Regionale di Scienze Naturali di Torino (MZUT Av9563) (L. Ghiraldi, © MRSN)

A few other examples of homonyms that are also junior synonyms come to mind: see for example (1) Pitta ussheri Gould, 1877, and of Sharpe, 1877 (Dickinson et al. 2000: 104); (2) Melanocorypha maxima Blyth, 1867, and of Gould, 1867 (Dickinson et al. 2001: 89, 100); (3) Alauda tenuirostris C. L. Brehm, 1841, and of d'Orbigny & Lafresnaye, 1836 (Dickinson & Lebossé 2018: 164). In addition, during GA's examination of type specimens in the ornithological collection of the MRSN, Turin, the case of Sylvia cetti Temminck, 1820, and Sylvia cetti Marmora, 1820, was noticed and the issue of precedence in that case needs to be addressed.

The status of the type specimens linked to Salvadori's name

We consider that Hemixus sumatranus Salvadori was published and is available, but it is invalid because it is a junior homonym. However, as an available name it is entitled to types. Based on that availability, the syntypes of Hemixus sumatranus Salvadori, 1888, all collected in 1878 on or near Mount Singalan, West Sumatra, are listed below:

The location of Beccari specimens no. 123, ♂ collected 11 July, and no. 164, ♀ collected 18 July, is not known.