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Rediscovery of a lost type specimen of Alexander Wilson
Journal article   Open access   Peer reviewed

Rediscovery of a lost type specimen of Alexander Wilson

Matthew R. Halley
The Wilson journal of ornithology, v 132(1), U302
01 Mar 2020
url
https://doi.org/10.1676/1559-4491-132.1.206View
Published, Version of Record (VoR)Maybe Open Access (Publisher Bronze) Open

Abstract

Life Sciences & Biomedicine Ornithology Science & Technology Zoology
Only 2 of Alexander Wilson's (1766-1813) study skins are known to exist in modern collections with data confirming their provenance. Both are type specimens, preserved at the Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University (ANSP) and are among the most precious artifacts of American science. In 2018, I discovered a third Wilson type in the ANSP collection with a note from John Cassin (1813-1869) confirming its provenance. This paper describes the discovery and rediscovery of the type specimen of Wilson's "variety of the Black Hawk" (Falco niger), overlooked by ornithologists and historians for more than 150 yr. Nomenclature is unaffected because F niger Wilson is a synonym of Buten lugopus (Pontoppidan 1763), the Rough-legged Hawk. Received 23 September 2019. Accepted 4 February 2020.

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Ornithology
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