The original authorship of Chalcides ocellatus tiligugu (Squamata: Scincidae)

Abstract

The current herpetological literature considers Gmelin (1789) as the authority for making the name Chalcides ocellatus tiligugu available. However, the subspecies had already been introduced by Hermann (1783) who referred in his short description to a publication by Cetti (1777). This short note shows that in accordance with the rules of nomenclature the correct notation for this Sardinian scincid lizard should be Chalcides ocellatus tiligugu (Hermann, 1783).