HOLOTIPUS HOLOONLINE TIPUS MAGAZINE ISSN 2704-7547 9 7 7 2 7 0 4 7 5 4 0 0 8 WHAT IS AZARA’S (1805) No. 193 SUIRIRI PARDO AMARILLO MENOR? DOI ® 10.5281/zenodo.4601227 HOLOTIPUS ARTICLE OPEN ACCESS Published on 26 March 2021 Smith, P. 2021. Holotipus rivista di zoologia sistematica e tassonomia II (1) 2021: 3-10 Received on 03 February 2021 / Accepted on 02 MarchResearch 2021 / Article Published on 26 March 2021 What is Azara’s (1805) No. 193 Suiriri pardo amarillo menor? Paul Smith1,2 urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:B9278B33-4247-4B02-98A5-3BBFE4A35D4B 10.5281/zenodo.4601227 1 FAUNA Paraguay, Encarnación, Dpto. Itapúa, Paraguay. www.faunaparaguay.com. Contact email: [email protected]. 2 Para La Tierra, Centro IDEAL, Mariscal Estigarribia 321 c/ Tte. Capurro, Pilar, Dpto. Ñeembucú, Abstract.Paraguay. www.paralatierra.org. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8758-4816. Indeed, during the 19th Century it was usually associated with species in the genus Myiarchus, despite the cup nestDespite description being well-described, provided being Azara’s incompatible No. 193 withSuiriri that pardo genus. amarillo In the menor early 20th has neverCentury been it became conclusively associated identified. with Elaenia obscura, and that has not been seriously questioned since. However, Paraguayan populations formerly attributed to E. obscura are now known as E. sordida, a species that is rare in Paraguay and incompatible with the E. spectabilis (Pelzeln, 1868), a common species in Paraguay, and this error of understanding is responsible for many early 20th Century Paraguayanoriginal description. reports of In E. this obscura paper. Azara’sI argue descriptionthat the true predates identity theof No. type 193 description is Large Elaenia of E. spectabilis by 63 years. Key words. Elaenia flavogaster; Elaenia sordida; Elaenia spectabilis; Large Elaenia; Myiarchus ferox. Published in three tomes “Apuntamientos para la over half of his species proving to be new to science historia natural de los páxaros del Paraguay y Río de la at the time. As a result, Azara’s true contribution to Plata” (1802-1805) by Félix de Azara (1742-1821) was ornithology is often overlooked. Azara’s life and work an early to attempt to document the South American is documented by Contreras (2010). avifauna. Azara’s detailed descriptions, punctuated with ecological observations and incorporating Azara’s work has been reviewed by several authors indigenous knowledge, indicated a meticulous and (Sonnini in Azara 1809; Hartlaub 1847; Burmeister careful approach, despite his lack of formal biological 1861; Berlepsch 1887; Bertoni 1901; Laubmann training. In total he documented 448 species, 1939; Pereyra 1945), but areas of disagreement which were ordered into “families” based on their persist and some descriptions have never been morphological characteristics and to which he applied common names. His failure to apply Linnean names to 193 Suiriri pardo amarillo menor, which he describes conclusivelyas follows (my identified. translation, One original such speciestext in appendix). is his No. Europe, academics clamoured to claim “authorship” of his species meant that when his work finally reached (=25.4 mm) and lines (=2.21 mm): Cover photo: Naturalis Biodiversity Center, Naturalis-Zoology and Geology catalogues, RMNH.AVES.68680. Note that Azara’s measurements are given in inches Accessible at https://data.biodiversitydata.nl/naturalis/specimen/RMNH.AVES.68680. his species by applying scientific names to them, with 4 HOLOTIPUS ARTICLE HOLOTIPUS ARTICLE 5 WHAT IS AZARA’S (1805) No. 193 SUIRIRI PARDO AMARILLO MENOR? NUM CXCIII “Cet oiseau, aux dimensions près, est le même Laubmann (1939), correctly recognized the genus, Short-crested Flycatcher (ie. black, sometimes with DEL PARDO AMARILLO MENOR que le petit tyran de Cayenne, Buffon, tom. viii, pag. but he opted for Elaenia obscura obscura pinkish tinge to the base of the lower-mandible), but 405.—Muscicapa ferox, var. Linn. syst. nat. gen. 113, & Lafresnaye, 1837) (almost certainly fide Bertoni much shorter. In combination with the measurements, “I have had several identical in Paraguay, because sp. 32.—Latham, syst. ornith. gen. 40, sp. 72. Au reste, 1907), and the same conclusion was repeated (d’Orbigny by the lack of a mention of white in the crown and the they show no sexual dimorphism. Its customs are like il y a tant de ressemblance entre ces tyrans, grands Pereyra (1945). However, given that that taxon does nest description, these characteristics are diagnostic et petits, de Cayenne et du midi de l’Amérique , que not occur in Paraguay (Rheindt et al. 2008, Tang et in Paraguay for the Large Elaenia nest with two chicks, which left the nest on the fourth l’on ne peut qu’adopter l’opinion de Buffon, qui les al. 2018) and Azara reported having several identical day,the following although thespecies. tail had On barely the 5 ofemerged. January Three I bought days a donnés comme des variétés de la même espèce”. individuals, the identity of this description is worthy There is also considerable circumstantial evidence of a closer look. the commonest Paraguayan Elaenia (at least during laterto the they ground flew veryand remainedlittle; and twosuddenly days after crippled, that one or Six species of Elaenia theto support summer this months), conclusion. mention Despite of the being Large arguably Elaenia attempted a long flight but, crashing into the wall, fell “This(My bird,translation) to the closest dimensions, is the same as the Paraguay 2004, Smith & Clay in press), three was omitted entirely from the works of Bertoni, the feathers of the other one that was somewhat smaller, petit tyran de Cayenne, Buffon, tom. viii, pag. 405.— “large” species (E. spectabilis occur, E.in flavogaster Paraguay (Guyra and E. althoughunable to usethey its later legs; attained for this reasonthe same I cut size. the flightThey var. Linn. syst. nat. gen. 113, sp. 32.— sordida) and three “small” species (E. parvirostris, during the early 20th Century, whilst Elaenia obscura happily ate pieces of raw meat and they begged for it Latham, syst. ornith. gen. 40, sp. 72. Besides, there is E. chiriquensis and E. albiceps chilensis). From the (=mostsordida significant) was referencedornithologist on working repeated in occasions Paraguay frequently, cheeping melancholically. Their plumage Muscicapaso much similarity ferox, between these tyrants of Cayenne measurements provided it is clear that this bird is one (Bertoni 1907, 1914, 1922, 1939). Bertoni repeatedly does not differ from that of their parents, apart from and South America, both great and small, that we have of the “large” species. Comparative measurements for cited Azara throughout his career, indicating that it being a little darker above , and that the yellow below no recourse but to adopt the opinion of Buffon, who all are provided in Table 1. was a key reference to him, especially in his early is somewhat paler. When they brought them to me considers them all varieties of the same species”. years. Bertoni’s references to “E. obscura” include the they did not have the crest ; but they took on this The species that most closely approaches the claimed rediscovery of the species in Paraguay where Sonnini (in Azara 1809) was the French translator measurements provided by Azara (1805) is the Large and annotator of Azara’s work, and at times was Elaenia E. spectabilis (note that the bill measurements wascharacteristic very shallow after and they made began of scarce to fly. materials.The nest is The so presumptuously dismissive of its contents. Indeed, are not compared here because of the non-standard eggshe specifically as 24 x 16 states mm. These that he measurements believed his bird correspond to be the small that they fitted into it with difficulty; and it he attempted repeatedly (and as often as not measurement technique employed by Azara). This tosame published as Azara measurements No. 193 and provided for Large measurements Elaenia (de ofla seem like hairs and a few mane bristles , with the rest erroneously) to associate Azara’s descriptions with is also the species that most closely resembles the Peña 2010), with Bertoni (1907) himself noting that consistingbase was little of moss, more a than few barbsspider and webs plant and fibres the same that known species, and frequently rejected Azara’s Short-crested Flycatcher (with which Azara compares they were larger than the published measurements first hand conclusions in favour of second hand it) and the species to which Azara’s description most available to him for E. sordida (21-22 x 15-16 mm) had been located on a trunk or horizontal branch of assumptions by French zoologists, despite never applies. Below I discuss the three species separately: (Ihering 1900). Bertoni (1922) reports the species fibres.one inch The thickness. clues from It is the not underside off topic to indicated mention that that it I having seen the birds in question. have also observed chicks of other birds that, as soon Yellow-bellied Elaenia E. flavogaster: This is a Asunción, where Large Elaenia is to this day a common as they touch the cold earth after leaving the nest, This contributed to a rather dim view of Azara’s fromspecies, the but Parque Small-headed Municipal Elaenia in the has capital never city been of scholarly efforts in French society at the time, which Smith & Clay in press). The species is distinguished commonfrom other species large in Paraguayan Paraguay (Guyra Elaenias Paraguay by the 2004, long, Yellow-bellied Elaenia E. flavogaster is referred to in findLength themselves 7 inches: suddenly tail 3: crippled,wingspan or 11. a few The days colours later. the perspicacity of the original author. Sonnini’s untidy crest, two yellowish wing-bars and the thesubsequently work of Bertoni been underrecorded. the synonyms On the other E. pagana hand, are those of the following (Short-crested Flycatcher flippantpersisted conclusion until the voyages can be of rejected d’Orbigny easily, confirmed firstly extensively pinkish yellow mandible.