MCZ Mammalogy BOM-9587

Gorilla gorilla gorilla (Savage and Wyman, 1847)

Lectotype of Troglodytes gorilla  
  Syntype of Troglodytes gorilla

Date Collected:

1847-01-01/1847-12-31

Africa: Gabon: Estuaire | Mpongwe country, Gabon Estuary

occurrenceID: https://mczbase.mcz.harvard.edu/guid/MCZ:Mamm:BOM-9587 JSON-LD

Media type: image; Mammalogy BOM-9587 Description: Gorilla skull dorsal view;

(Media Record) (Related) (Full)

Shows Cataloged Item: MCZ:Mamm:BOM-9587 Gorilla gorilla gorilla Lectotype Descript...

Media type: image; Mammalogy BOM-9587 Description: Gorilla jaw occlusal view;

(Media Record) (Related) (Full)

Shows Cataloged Item: MCZ:Mamm:BOM-9587 Gorilla gorilla gorilla Lectotype Descript...

Media type: image; Mammalogy BOM-9587 Description: Gorilla jaw anterior view;

(Media Record) (Related) (Full)

Shows Cataloged Item: MCZ:Mamm:BOM-9587 Gorilla gorilla gorilla Lectotype Descript...

Media type: image; Mammalogy BOM-9587 Description: Gorilla jaw posterior view;

(Media Record) (Related) (Full)

Shows Cataloged Item: MCZ:Mamm:BOM-9587 Gorilla gorilla gorilla Lectotype Descript...

Media type: image; Mammalogy BOM-9587 Description: Gorilla skull anterior view;

(Media Record) (Related) (Full)

Shows Cataloged Item: MCZ:Mamm:BOM-9587 Gorilla gorilla gorilla Lectotype Descript...

Media type: image; Mammalogy BOM-9587 Description: Gorilla skull posterior view;

(Media Record) (Related) (Full)

Shows Cataloged Item: MCZ:Mamm:BOM-9587 Gorilla gorilla gorilla Lectotype Descript...

Media type: image; Mammalogy BOM-9587 Description: Gorilla jaw left lateral view;

(Media Record) (Related) (Full)

Shows Cataloged Item: MCZ:Mamm:BOM-9587 Gorilla gorilla gorilla Lectotype Descript...

Media type: image; Mammalogy BOM-9587 Description: Gorilla jaw right lateral view;

(Media Record) (Related) (Full)

Shows Cataloged Item: MCZ:Mamm:BOM-9587 Gorilla gorilla gorilla Lectotype Descript...

Media type: image; Mammalogy BOM-9587 Description: Gorilla skull left lateral view;

(Media Record) (Related) (Full)

Shows Cataloged Item: MCZ:Mamm:BOM-9587 Gorilla gorilla gorilla Lectotype Descript...

Media type: image; Mammalogy BOM-9587 Description: Gorilla skull right lateral view;

(Media Record) (Related) (Full)

Shows Cataloged Item: MCZ:Mamm:BOM-9587 Gorilla gorilla gorilla Lectotype Descript...

Media type: text; Mammalogy BOM-9587 shows publication Coolidge 1929 Description: Publication by Harold Jefferson Coolidge. A Revision of the Genus Gorilla;

(Media Record) (Related) (File)

Shows Cataloged Item: MCZ:Mamm:BOM-9587 Gorilla gorilla gorilla Lectotype Shows Pub...

Current Identification
Gorilla gorilla gorilla (Savage and Wyman, 1847)
Animalia Chordata Mammalia Primates Pongidae
Common Name(s): Western Lowland Gorilla
Determiner: [no agent data]
Nature of ID: revised taxonomy
Remarks: Catalog
Previous Identification
Troglodytes gorilla Savage and Wyman, 1847
Animalia Chordata Mammalia Primates Pongidae
Determiner: Thomas S. Savage; Jefferies Wyman in 1847
Nature of ID: type ID

Savage and Wyman 1847, page 417, Syntype of Troglodytes gorilla Savage and Wyman, 1847 one of four specimens examined in original description, two of which are at MCZ (MCZ BOM-9587 and MCZ BOM-9311). The two which were figured and measured for the table on p. 442 are those at the MCZ, including this adult male. According to Helgen and McFadden's 2001 type catalog, these two specimens are the only two of the original type series described as being in "perfect condition" by Wyman in his personal notebook of osteology (unpublished, held at the Museum of Science, Boston).
Helgen and McFadden 2001, page 136, Lectotype of Troglodytes gorilla Savage and Wyman, 1847 Helgen & McFadden designate MCZ BOM-9587 as lectotype because it "is the only intact specimen of the syntype series known to exist, and its measurements and an illustration of its skull are included in the original publication. Additionally, it is the only syntype whose measurements are included in Coolidge's revision of the genus Gorilla (1929: 325) [...] For these reasons [it] is hereby designated as lectotype of Troglodytes gorilla Savage & Wyman, 1847; this should ensure taxonomic consistency between past and future treatments of this name." It is listed in the type catalog erroneously as MCZ 9587 rather than MCZ BOM-9587.
Media type: text; Savage and Wyman 1847 Description: Notice of the external characters and habits of <i>Troglodytes gorilla</i>, a new species of orang from the Gaboon River, and the osteology of the same;

(Media Record) (Related) (File)

Shows Publication: Savage and Wyman 1847 Description: Notice of the external characters and habits of Troglodytes gorilla, a new species of orang from the Gaboon River,...

Media type: text; Helgen and McFadden 2001 Description: MCZ Bulletin Vol. CLVII no. 2;

(Media Record) (Related) (File)

Shows Publication: Helgen and McFadden 2001 Description: MCZ Bulletin Vol. CLVII no. 2

  • original number: 28

Part Condition Disposition Count
partial skeleton (dry) unchecked unknown 1 History
skull (dry) good in collection 1 History
tissue (dry) good in collection 1 History
Remarks: tissue; sub-sampled as part of NSF CSBR Holotype grant; transferred to MCZ-CRYO on
subsampled by = Nina Black   determined date=2023-11-16   determined by=Nina Black  

Attribute Value Determination On
sex male [no agent data]
age class adult [no agent data]
associated grant Preserving the genomes of the type specimens in the MCZ (CSBR) By: Nina Black 2023-12-07

  • None

  • "A cotype figured in Boston Journal of Natural History, Vol. 5, pls. 1,2.".

  • [Masked] reported: Change type status to Lectotype and attach this publication. https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/4290518#page/146/mode/1up commenting (2021-03-30) New

  • Continent:
  • Africa
  • Country:
  • Gabon
  • State/Province:
  • Estuaire
  • dwc:highergeographyID:
  • http://vocab.getty.edu/tgn/1001668 linked data icon
Specimens with same Higher Geography
Specimens from the same Locality
Specimens from the same Collecting Event
  • Specific Locality:
  • Mpongwe country, Gabon Estuary
  • Verbatim Locality:
  • Mpongwe, Gaboon River
  • Georeference:
  • 0.17896200°, 9.64343600° (Error radius: 82978m) By: Madeleine Mullon on 2023-11-20 (Source: GEOLocate)
  • Datum:
  • WGS84
  • Coordinates Entered As:
  • decimal degrees
  • Collecting Source:
  • wild caught
  • Began Date / Ended Date:
  • 1847-01-01 / 1847-12-31
  • Verbatim Date:
  • 1847
  • Collecting Event Remarks:
  • ledger lists locality as Cape Palmas, but this is incorrect. Page 425 of original publication says of the collector "a slave to an Mpongwe man, from an interior tribe, killed the male and female [gorillas] whose bones are the origin of this article".
  • Collectors:
  • Native collector; Thomas S. Savage

  • None

Media type: text; Mammalogy BOM-9578; BOM-9579; BOM-9586; BOM-9587; BOM-9588; BOM-9576; BOM-9577; BOM-9580; BOM-9581; BOM-9582; BOM-9583; BOM-9584; BOM-9585; BOM-9589; BOM-9590; BOM-9591; BOM-9592; BOM-9593; BOM-9594; BOM-9595; BOM-9596; BOM-9597; BOM-9598; BOM-9599; BOM-9600 Description: MCZ Mammalogy Bones bones-006001, pg.144;

(Media Record) (Related) (File)

Ledger Entry for: 25 cataloged items from MCZ:Mamm:BOM-9578 Lama to MCZ:Mamm:BOM-9600 Nes...

  • [Masked]
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