No, in this case the gender of the colour depends on the "thing" that it
describes. In this case, we are not talking about a black duck (somateria in
this case) but about a black v. So, if 'v' is neutal in Latin (which I believe
is correct) then it should be nigrum, if 'v' was female then it should be
nigra, if 'v' was male then it should be niger. So in this case the gender of
the colour should be independent of the gender of the genus name.
Nikolas
----------------
Nikolas Haass
Sydney, NSW
________________________________
From: Andrew Hobbs <>
To:
Sent: Sunday, January 22, 2012 5:22 PM
Subject: Taxonomy question
On 22/01/2012 12:35 PM, David James wrote:
> 'I dout that 'v-nigrum' (meaning black V) would be a valid subspecific name
> under the zoological nomenclature code. Perhaps the v indicates that nigrum
> is the name of the variety rather than a subspecies. Varietly is a category
> lower than subspecies which is used frequently in botany but not usually in
> zoology. an antiquated name perhaps?
Well the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature seems to
think that c-album (as in /Polygonia c/-/album /: a species of
butterfly. In this case it is known that the insect was named
specifically for a white patch in the shape of the letter c. This is
given as a specific example by the ICZN) is acceptable as a species
name, so I would think that v-nigrum (or v-nigra) would be acceptable as
a sub-species name.
Secondly one of the rules of the ICSN states that if a species has been
given a name consisting of two or more words in the original description
then the words should be joined either by simply eliminating the gap or
by the use of a hyphen. If the hyphen was given in the original
description then it should be retained.
In the present case the 'v' could of course represent another possible
physical characteristic. However given that nigra is derived from the
latin word for the colour 'black' I would think that it is reasonable to
suggest that it was named for a black 'v' pattern in its feathers.
By the way, whether it is v-nigrum or v-nigra depends upon the Genus
name. In general the species name is never changed once it has been
conferred. However the gender of the ending must agree with the gender
of the genus name. If the species is transferred to a different genus
then the ending should be changed to make the genders of the genus and
species (and presumably sub-species) names agree. (I don't know how
this impacts the specific case of the duck species in question)
http://iczn.org/content/code-relationship-257
Cheers
Andrew
>
> David James,
> in Jakarta
>
> ==============================
>
>
> ________________________________
> From: Dave Torr<>
> To: Andrew Hobbs<>
> Cc:
> Sent: Sunday, 22 January 2012 10:56 AM
> Subject: Re: [Birding-Aus] Taxonomy question
>
> Thanks Andrew - that makes sense and advances my knowledge. Will now allow
> for such forms in my software.
>
> On 22 January 2012 10:51, Andrew Hobbs<> wrote:
>
>> On 22/01/2012 6:40 AM, Dave Torr wrote:
>>
>>> Hi
>>>
>>> I am working on a spreadsheet that correlates the latest IOC 3e list (with
>>> subspecies) to the relevant pages in the HBW volumes - should have it
>>> finished in a week or so if anyone wants a copy.
>>>
>>> Anyway - I have found that a subspecies of Common Eider is listed as
>>> *Somateria
>>> mollissima v-nigrum* which is confusing me as I thought all components
>>> were
>>>
>>> "simple" words - my software certainly did not expect a hyphen in the
>>> middle of a component. It is also listed (as *v-nigra*) on the Avibase
>>>
>>> system. Anyone have an explanation for this?
>>>
>>> Thanks
>>>
>> I suspect that the v-nigra stands for a black V shape visible in the
>> feather pattern; see
>>
>> http://iczn.org/content/what-**correct-original-spelling<http://iczn.org/content/what-correct-original-spelling>
>>
>> However hyphens in species/subspecies names are not unusual; see
>>
>> http://iczn.org/content/code-**relationship-2831<http://iczn.org/content/code-relationship-2831>
>>
>> http://iczn.org/content/code-**relationship-170<http://iczn.org/content/code-relationship-170>
>>
>> Cheers
>>
>> Andrew
>>
>>
>>> Dave
>>> ==============================**=
>>>
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>>>
>>>
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