Special Publications Museum of Texas Tech University Number xx73 9xx January XXXX 20202010 Type Localities of Mexican Land Mammals, with Comments on Taxonomy and Nomenclature Alfred L. Gardner and José Ramírez-Pulido Front cover: Edward W. Nelson (right) preparing specimens in camp on Mt. Tancítaro, Michoacán. Photograph by Edward A. Goldman, March 1903. Courtesy of Smithsonian Institution Archives, Nelson Goldman files RU7634. SPECIAL PUBLICATIONS Museum of Texas Tech University Number 73 Type Localities of Mexican Land Mammals, with Comments on Taxonomy and Nomenclature Alfred L. Gardner and José Ramírez-Pulido Layout and Design: Lisa Bradley Cover Design: Photo courtesy of Smithsonian Institution Archives, Nelson Goldman files, RU7634 Production Editor: Lisa Bradley Copyright 2020, Museum of Texas Tech University This publication is available free of charge in PDF format from the website of the Natural Sciences Research Laboratory, Museum of Texas Tech University (www.depts.ttu.edu/nsrl). The authors and the Museum of Texas Tech University hereby grant permission to interested parties to download or print this publication for personal or educational (not for profit) use. Re-publication of any part of this paper in other works is not permitted without prior written permission of the Museum of Texas Tech University. This book was set in Times New Roman and printed on acid-free paper that meets the guidelines for per- manence and durability of the Committee on Production Guidelines for Book Longevity of the Council on Library Resources. Printed: 9 January 2020 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Special Publications of the Museum of Texas Tech University, Number 73 Series Editor: Robert D. Bradley Type Localities of Mexican Land Mammals, with Comments on Taxonomy and Nomenclature Alfred L. Gardner and José Ramírez-Pulido ISSN 0149-1768 ISBN 1-929330-40-5 ISBN13 978-1-929330-40-9 Museum of Texas Tech University Lubbock, TX 79409-3191 USA (806)742-2442 Type Localities of Mexican Land Mammals, with Comments on Taxonomy and Nomenclature Alfred L. Gardner and José Ramírez-Pulido Abstract This report is a compilation of all species and subspecies names proposed for land mammals for which type localities are in Mexico. These names are organized alpha- betically by state and listed under locality place names in each state. Type localities are quoted exactly as provided in the original descriptions, followed by corrections and restrictions where appropriate. This report also includes discussion and resolution of several taxonomic, nomenclatural, and bibliographic problems associated with these names. Key words: Mexico, nomenclature, original type locality, synonym, taxon, tax- onomy Resumen Este trabajo compendia los nombres de las especies y subespecies de todos los mamíferos terrestres cuya localidad tipo se encuentra en México. La organización de las localidades tipo está ordenada alfabéticamente en cada estado y registrada bajo el nom- bre de los lugares de la localidad en cada entidad. La localidad tipo se cita exactamente como se publica en la descripción original, seguida de correcciones y restricciones según corresponda. Este artículo contiene también la discusión y la resolución de una serie de problemas taxonómicos, nomenclaturales y bibliográficos asociados con estos nombres. Palabras clave: localidad tipo, México, nomenclatura, sinónimo, taxón, taxonomía Introduction During the compilation of a synonymy for all This was most easily noted when the quoted informa- species and subspecies of terrestrial mammals found tion is in English or Spanish, but the original was in in Mexico, a number of errors, misinterpretations, and Latin, French, German, or some other language. Mis- other ambiguities when citing type localities were quoting could reflect the difficulty in finding original discovered. The primary cause appears to be undue descriptions, especially in older literature. The increas- reliance on citations in the recent literature and the ac- ing availability of the older literature through online companying failure to examine original descriptions. sources (e.g., Google Scholar or Biodiversity Heritage An unfortunate common practice is the citation of the Library) has largely alleviated that problem. type locality within quotation marks, which leads the reader to assume that the information is exactly quoted A type locality is the geographical place of cap- as originally published, when instead, the informa- ture of the name-bearing type of a species or subspecies. tion given is not the original, but was copied from a If there are syntypes and no lectotype has been selected, secondary source and contains errors, omissions, or the type locality encompasses the localites represented interpretations introduced by the author of that source. by all of them (see ICZN 1999: Art. 76). When a 1 2 Special Publications, Museum of Texas Tech University species-group name is based on syntypes representing and its revision in 1981 by Hall. A basic problem with two or more locations, selection of a lectotype fixes the these three references is that the type localities given type locality to the site where that particular specimen sometimes differ from the original wording, and when was collected. Establishment of a neotype fixes the the information they provide is a correction or refine- type locality to the place where the neotype was col- ment of the original type locality, the source or basis lected, and any previous statements of type localities of that revision is not stated. The next available source for that taxon are invalidated. Correct type localities of information on type localities of Mexican mammals are particularly important for taxonomic, ecological, is T. Álvarez et al.’s (1997) Localidades típicas de and geographical studies of the biota. Information on mamíferos terrestres en México. All type localities type localities also has importance in conservation, in this work are Spanish originals or Spanish transla- including land management decisions and programs. tions, some of which were based on earlier erroneous or revised, but undocumented, information. In addition to the problems with type locali- ties found during our research, the early descriptive The primary objective of this report was to pro- literature on mammals sometimes included erroneous vide a single source for the original wording for all type localities. As an example, the common opossum Mexican type localities for land mammals that includes Didelphis marsupialis Linnaeus, 1758, was based on subsequent revisions and corrections. This report is several large opossums; therefore, composite. Thomas not as analytical nor as exhaustive as the treatise on (1911:143) selected the female opossum illustrated by type localities of Mexican mammals by Álvarez et al. Seba (1734:pl. 39) as the lectotype and restricted the (1997). A table (Table 1), however, is included that type locality to “Suriname.” Linnaeus (1758:54) wrote compares the numbers of taxa included in this report that the species was from America, which was a correc- with those listed by Álvarez et al. (1997:9, Figura 1). tion of Seba’s original locality (“Amboina” = Ambos Island, Indonesia). Because of recent controversy During the course of our investigations, a number concerning application of the name D. marsupialis to of overlooked names and several additional issues were the common opossum (see Gurgel-Filho et al. 2015), encountered concerning homonymy of names, lack of Feijó and Voss (2019) designated a neotype and thereby or incorrect type localities, and incorrect attribution of tied the name to the common opossum and fixed the authors’ names or citations. Resolution of these issues type locality to Brownsberg Nature Park headquarters, is covered in the section on taxonomic, nomenclatural, Brokopondo District, Surinam. and bibliographic problems that precedes the list of type localities. The taxonomic propriety of separating The primary and most easily available compendia the bat genus Lasiurus into three genera (Aeorestes, of type localities for Mexican mammals during the last Dasypterus, and Lasiurus) also is discussed. An Index half of the 20th Century was Miller and Kellogg’s (1955) of Scientific Names follows the section on Literature List of North American Recent mammals, followed by Cited. Hall and Kelson’s (1959) Mammals of North America Gardner and Ramírez-Pulido—Type Localities of Mexican Land Mammals 3 Table 1. Number of species and subspecies (species-group taxa) of non-marine mammals described from each state in Mexico. The number of species-group taxa described from Mexico, but not currently assignable to a State, is listed under MEXICO. Numbers of taxa do not include neotypes or replacement names. Comparative numbers of species- group taxa, shown in parentheses, are from Álvarez et al. (1997:9, Figura 1). State Number of taxa State Number of taxa MEXICO 35 Morelos 13 (12) Aguascalientes 2 (2) Nayarit 33 (30) Baja California 120 (118) Nuevo León 5 (6) Baja California Sur 102 (124) Oaxaca 121 (117) Campeche 14 (14) Puebla 26 (28) Chiapas 55 (51) Queretaro 7 (6) Chihuahua 49 (49) Quintana Roo 13 (13) Coahuila 42 (41) San Luis Potosí 26 (26) Colima 22 (20) Sinaloa 25 (26) Distrito Federal 16 (13) Sonora 73 (73) Durango 30 (29) Tabasco 14 (14) Guanajuato 3 (3) Tamaulipas 37 (36) Guerrero 33 (31) Tlaxcala 2 (3) Hidalgo 11 (10) Veracruz 120 (115) Jalisco 74 (73) Yucatán 33 (31) México 22 (17) Zacatecas 16 (16) Michoacán 42 (40) Materials and Methods The primary