The type locality of Pan troglodytes vellerosus (Gray, 1862), and implications for the nomenclature of West African chimpanzees

We show that, in 1862, Richard Burton collected the type specimen of Pan troglodytes vellerosus not on Mount Cameroon, as has been generally assumed, but in Gabon. Therefore, P. t. vellerosus is not the correct name for the chimpanzee population of western Cameroon and southern Nigeria, if that popu...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Primates 2009-01, Vol.50 (1), p.78-80
Main Authors: Oates, John F., Groves, Colin P., Jenkins, Paulina D.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Africa, Western
Animal Ecology
Animal populations
Animals
Behavioral Sciences
Biomedical and Life Sciences
Classification - methods
Demography
Evolutionary Biology
Life Sciences
Monkeys & apes
Pan troglodytes
Pan troglodytes - anatomy & histology
Pan troglodytes - classification
Primates
Short Communication
Taxonomy
Zoology
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Summary:We show that, in 1862, Richard Burton collected the type specimen of Pan troglodytes vellerosus not on Mount Cameroon, as has been generally assumed, but in Gabon. Therefore, P. t. vellerosus is not the correct name for the chimpanzee population of western Cameroon and southern Nigeria, if that population is taxonomically distinct. As First Reviser, we choose the name Pan troglodytes ellioti for this population of chimpanzees, based on Anthropopithecus ellioti named by Matschie [Matschie P ( 1914 ) Neue Affen aus Mittelafrika. Sitzungsber Ges Naturforsch Freunde Berlin 1914:323–342] from a specimen in the Humboldt Museum, Berlin, collected in Bascho (=Basho), Cameroon, and given to the museum in 1905.
ISSN:0032-8332
1610-7365
DOI:10.1007/s10329-008-0116-z