Thank you, David. This is a nice addition to the knowledge of one of
Alabama's early malacologists, the owner of one of the largest private
collections of his day.
In addition to the Aldrich types of modern mollusks at the Alabama Museum of
Natural History in Mary Harmon Bryant Hall (where I have my office), there
are also a few Aldrich types of fossil mollusks at the Geological Survey of
Alabama in Jones Hall, next door on the University of Alabama campus in
oak-shaded Tuscaloosa.
In Truman Aldrich's day, the word "cotype" was used in so many different
ways that the ICZN later rejected it altogether. I have investigated what
Aldrich meant by "cotype" by comparing his labels to his published work and
that of others. In some cases, the cotype was a syntype, that is, one of a
series of specimens that Aldrich used as the original name-bearers of a
species. In these cases, one or more of the specimens would be illustrated,
the locality on the label would match the locality given in the publication,
and the collection date would precede the publication date. In other cases,
however, a tray or vial of cotypes might include specimens collected after
the publication date and/or from a locality other than the type locality. In
sum, when Aldrich said a specimen was a cotype, he merely meant that it was
a specimen identified by the author of the species -- himself. It might or
might not also be a syntype (one of the specimens on which the name was
originally based) or a topotype (specimen from the type locality). This
collector-centered definition of "cotype" was only one of several current at
the time. Such cotypes were commonly traded among collectors, so it would
not be surprising to find cotypes scattered in different museums today.
The numbered types in the ALMNH and GSA collections are generally primary
types (holotypes, syntypes, paratypes) in the modern sense of the word. The
numbers on the labels can be a bit confusing, since some were inherited from
previous collections such as that of Otto Meyer. The final sequence of
numbers was apparently started by Herbert Smith in the 1910's and continued
by Daisy Smith and Winnie McGlamery, and after the ALMNH and GSA split in
1961, at the GSA by Charles Copeland and myself.
Andrew K. Rindsberg
Curator, Paleontological Collection
Geological Survey of Alabama
-----Original Message-----
From: Conchologists List [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Dr.
David Campbell
Sent: Friday, December 09, 2005 11:17 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Aldrich types still in Alabama
Here's a list of things found so far (label data, including varying word
sequence):
Cyclotus niasensis Fulton Nias Island, Sumatra. Co-type. 3 specimens
Leptopoma cotabatoensis, Bart Kidapayan, Cotabato,
Mindanao. “Cotypes” written on label. 4 specimens
Leptopoma fultoni Aldr. Marang Type Sumatra W. Doherty. Type 97. 4
specimens.
Lagocheilus marangensis Aldr. Marang W. Doherty Sumatra Type. Type #96. 1
specimen.
No. 6218 Macrochlamys dohertyi Hender. TYPE Doherty Is. of Engaño. Type
#94. 1 specimen
--
Dr. David Campbell
425 Scientific Collections Building
Department of Biological Sciences
Biodiversity and Systematics
University of Alabama, Box 870345
Tuscaloosa AL 35487-0345 USA
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