[Nhcoll-l] Seeking Info. on Whale Skeleton

[Barry OConnor]

Just a clarification here regarding the use of "type" terminology. A
lectotype is a specimen chosen by a reviser of an original syntype series
to be a single specimen that will represent the name. This is typically
done when the original syntype series turns out to contain more than one
species. In the case presented, a holotype was designated originally, not
syntypes, so there can be no lectotype. In the case of a lost holotype, the
proper procedure if there is confusion over the use of a name (in this case
"velifera"), a neotype should be designated.  The ICZN has rules covering
how this is to be accomplished.
All the best! - Barry

On Sun, Jan 10, 2016 at 7:37 PM, Casey Tucker <tuckercasey at hotmail.com>
wrote:

> I'm passing this along. Please contact Eric Archer directly (see below).
>
> C. Tucker
> *************************************************************
>
> I am trying to track down the skeleton of a fin whale (*
> *Balaenoptera physalus**) that was once hanging at the Wistar Institute
> in Philadelphia,PA USA.
>
>
> The skeleton was collected by Edward Cope from San Clemente, California in
> 1895 and donated to the Wistar a few years later. It was described in True
> 1904. "The Whalebone Whales of the Western North Atlantic" as measuring 62
> feet, 10 inches long. The name applied by Cope for this specimen was
> *Balaenoptera velifera*, originally described in 1869, currently
> synonymized with *B. physalus*. As there doesn't appear to be any surviving
> material for the holotype of*Balenoptera velifera*, the specimen from the
> Wistar Institute would be the next candidate to designate as a lectotype
> for a new subspecies of fin whales in the eastern north Pacific:
> *Balaenoptera physalus velifera*.
>
>
> The skeleton is no longer at the Wistar Institute. I have been in
> touch with directors at the Wistar and scoured the internet and the
> evidence is that sometime soon after a new director, Hilary Koprowski,
> arrived in 1957, the skeleton was shipped to the Field Museum in Chicago.
> However, the current curator of the mammal collection at the Field Museum
> says that the skeleton is not in their collection nor does anyone there
> have any recollection or knowledge of it. It is also not in the
> Smithsonian or at
>
> the American Natural History Museum.
>
>
> If anyone has any knowledge of this specimen or knows of someone who
> might, I would greatly appreciate their contact information. I am
> currently working on writing up the description for this subspecies and
> would like to
> identify the lectotype as well as potentially obtain some bone sample for
> mitochondrial DNA sequencing. Thank you in advance.
>
>
> Regards,
>
>
> Eric Archer
>
> ----
> *Eric Archer, Ph.D.*
> Southwest Fisheries Science Center
> NMFS, NOAA
> 8901 La Jolla Shores Drive
> La Jolla, CA 92037 USA
> 858-546-7121 (work)
> 858-546-7003 (FAX)
>
> https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__swfsc.noaa.gov_mmtd-2Dmmgenetics_&d=AwIFaQ&c=-dg2m7zWuuDZ0MUcV7Sdqw&r=CLFZJ3fvGSmDp7xK1dNZfh6uGV_h-8NVlo3fXNoRNzI&m=9DUJYDYiVPHPKVR5jQaD1j1NcJN5zRQ7KyFbUBbJMGc&s=KAYKmTt-YSmEaCpPrWiYB4U6FQ6Ej6RG6dS78Dk8VJ0&e= 
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>
> eric.archer at NOAA.GOV
>
>
>
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-- 
-So many mites, so little time!

Barry M. OConnor
Professor  & Curator
Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology
University of Michigan                  phone: 734-763-4354
1109 Geddes Ave.                          fax: 734-763-4080
Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1079          e-mail: bmoc at umich.edu
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