Common Ground Snake

description

14. The locality of Yapen Island has also been spelled “ Japen. ” The latter is, however, an Anglicized version of a Papuan name, used predominantly by the Allied Forces during the Second World War and having entered the mainstream of location names as a consequence. We prefer to use the original spelling. 15. During his last years as director of the Dresden museum, Meyer was the target of anti-Semitic intrigue (Fritz 2002), which appears to have brought his long and highly successful term as a scientist to an undeservedly premature end. To the heading of his account, Wichmann (1910) included a footnote to disclose that Meyer’s real name was Aron Baruch Meyer, a name indicating a Jewish heritage. The entire text thereafter is composed of accusations against Meyer, asserting his incompetence and untruthfulness, but generally amounting to hearsay presented as analysis. Wichmann ended his account with a nasty flourish, declaring: “ In der Wissenschaft wird aber der Name dieses Mannes, dem die Wahrhaftigkeit niemals etwas anderes als eine abgegriffene Ware gewesen ist, als ein abschreckendes Beispiel noch über Jahrhunderte hinaus fortleben. ” [The name of this man, to whom truthfulness

The taxonomic history of Indo-Papuan groundsnakes, genus Stegonotus Duméril et al., 1854 (Colubridae), with some taxonomic revisions and the designation of a neotype for S. parvus (Meyer, 1874)

description

Synonyms. None. Original name. Lycodon parvus Meyer, 1874: 137. The species name parvus is a Latin word meaning “ small ” and, other than to describe the small size of the specimens collected, it is not obvious why Meyer would have selected this name 13. The species description was presented in German. Syntypes. MTKD 876 (Table 1). According to Schüz (1929), two specimens had been accessioned under this single number. These were destroyed in the Second World War, during the Allied air raids on Dresden on 13 – 15 February 1945, along with most other herpetological specimens at the MTKD.

The taxonomic history of Indo-Papuan groundsnakes, genus Stegonotus Duméril et al., 1854 (Colubridae), with some taxonomic revisions and the designation of a neotype for S. parvus (Meyer, 1874)

discussion

Comments. Meyer (1887) listed Lycodon parvus as a member of the family Lycodontidae and in the synonymy of L. lividus. Designation of a neotype. The lack of a type specimen for Stegonotus parvus is a significant hindrance to unraveling the taxonomy of the populations of Stegonotus in New Guinea and parts of Australia, where this name has been applied to dozens of specimens. Article 75 of the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN 1999) permits the designation of a neotype when specific qualifying conditions are met, and in this section we present the relevant declarations. To satisfy the conditions of Article 75.3.1, we attest that with the available information, it is not possible to ascertain the taxonomic status of S. parvus. As a consequence, the application of this name since the destruction of the syntypes has been prone to error and has introduced a significant amount of uncertainty over the identity of groundsnakes throughout New Guinea and parts of Australia. Designation of a neotype is imperative to stabilize the taxonomic status of the species and the taxonomy of the genus as a whole. To satisfy the conditions of Article 75.3.2, we refer the reader to the de

The taxonomic history of Indo-Papuan groundsnakes, genus Stegonotus Duméril et al., 1854 (Colubridae), with some taxonomic revisions and the designation of a neotype for S. parvus (Meyer, 1874)

materials_examined

Type locality. “ Neu-Guinea, Jobi ” [Yapen Island 14, Papua Province, Indonesia]. Collection. Meyer (1887) specified that the collection on Yapen was made at Ansus, a settlement on the south shore of the island (ca. 1.7341 ° S, 135.8263 ° E), and Meyer (1875) gave 8 April 1873 as his arrival date there. In his hypercritical review of Meyer’s reports, Wichmann (1910 15) gave 8 – 29 April 1873 as the specific dates for the visit to Ansus, and these dates correspond to those provided by Meyer himself. Meyer (1875) also stated that the collection activities spanned 19 days. Based on his account, it appears the arrival occurred late in the day and the following day was spent with negotiations; the departure occurred at dawn on 29 April. Therefore, specimen collection on Yapen must have occurred on 10 – 28 April, during which time Meyer collected 30 species of amphibians and reptiles (Meyer 1875).

The taxonomic history of Indo-Papuan groundsnakes, genus Stegonotus Duméril et al., 1854 (Colubridae), with some taxonomic revisions and the designation of a neotype for S. parvus (Meyer, 1874)