The name-bearing type is essential for the objective identification of a taxonomic name: the message from the lectotypification of Lemmus obensis bungei

Abstract

Abstract We looked at lectotype designations by Baranova and Gromov from among syntypes in the Mammal Collection of the Zoological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences (ZIN) in St. Petersburg, Russia. We identified 20 lectotypifications, published in 2003, which do not accord to Articles 74.7.3 and/or 74.1.3 of the Code and are therefore invalid. Particularly instructive is the case of Lemmus obensis bungei Vinogradov, B.S. (1924). Two new interesting lemmings from Siberia. Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. 9: 186–188, since its syntypes originated from two allopatric phylogenetic lineages which were classified as distinct nominal taxa. Because the act of lectotypification by Baranova and Gromov does not contain an express statement of deliberate designation as is requested by the amended Article 74.7.3 of the Code, their designation is not valid. To secure the nomenclatural stability of Siberian lemmings we designate voucher ZIN 11,025 (skin and skull from Sagastyr Island) as the lectotype of Lemmus obensis bungei. The name bungei thus defined is a junior synonym of Lemmus lemmus sibiricus (Kerr, R. (1792). The animal kingdom […] of the celebrated Sir Charles Linnæus. Class I. Mammalia, J. Murray, London) with a range at the shores of the Arctic Ocean, between the Northern Dvina and Lena Rivers. We furthermore provide a list of all invalid lectotypifications of hamsters (Cricetinae) and voles (Arvicolinae) based on ZIN syntypes.