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This paper provides a catalogue of the type specimens of lice (Insecta: Psocodea: Phthiraptera) held in the collection of the Field Museum of Natural History (FMNH), Chicago, Illinois, USA. There are 178 nominal species, four of which are represented by holotype only; 14 by holotype, allotype and paratypes; 29 by holotype and paratypes; 127 by paratypes only; three by neoparatypes, and one by paralectotype. The main goal of this type catalog is to make the louse type specimens and their metadata more readily available to biodiversity researchers.
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Consequences of the misidentification of museum specimens: the taxonomic status of Canis lupaster soudanicus
Abstract Researchers are increasingly using museum collections for taxonomy, systematics, phylogenetics, and faunal analyses, and they assume that taxonomic identifications on museum labels are correct. However, identifications may be incorrect or out of date, which could result in false conclusions from subsequent research. A recent geometric morphometrics analysis of skulls of African canids by Machado and Teta (2020) suggested that Canis lupaster soudanicus is a junior synonym of Lupulella adusta. However, the holotype of soudanicus was not measured and further investigation of the putative soudanicus specimens used in this study showed that these originally were identified as L. adusta. This original identification was confirmed by dental measurements, which also confirm that the holotype of soudanicus is Canis lupaster. Hence, soudanicus should not be synonymized with L. adusta. This example highlights the importance of careful checking of species identifications of museum specimens prior to research and, where possible, including (holo)types of taxa, before making taxonomic changes that could have important consequences for species conservation and management.
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- Award ID(s):
- 1759940
- PAR ID:
- 10232493
- Editor(s):
- Esselstyn, Jacob
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Journal of Mammalogy
- Volume:
- 101
- Issue:
- 4
- ISSN:
- 0022-2372
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- 1148 to 1150
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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- Free Publicly Accessible Full Text
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Accepted Manuscript1.0
- Journal Article:
- https://doi.org/10.1093/jmammal/gyaa080
