The type series of Chloris sinica tschiliensis Jacobi, 1923 (Aves, Fringillidae)

Abstract

The Oriental Greenfinch Carduelis sinica (Linnaeus, 1766) is currently regarded as consisting of five to six subspecies (Dickinson 2003: 749; Clement 2010: 543–544; Clements et al. 2012; Gill & Donsker 2012; treated as Chloris sinica by the latter two authors). In 1923, Arnold Jacobi, then working at the Zoological Museum in Dresden, described the subspecies Chloris sinica tschiliensis, but it was recognized for just a few years before being synonymised by Howell et al. (1968: 236) under Carduelis s. sinica (Linnaeus, 1766). The description is based on twelve specimens (six males, five adult females, one juvenile female) obtained by Hugo Weigold during his participation in Walt(h)er Stötzner’s 1914–1916 Sichuan expedition (Jacobi 1923). Although most of the birds have ever since been present in different collections, the whereabouts of the type series remained unclear for several years (e.g., van den Elzen 2010). Thus, in the following I present a comprehensive overview of the identity and contemporary availability of the original specimens that Jacobi had at hand.