MCZ Mammalogy BOM-9368

Trichechus senegalensis Link, 1795

Holotype of Manatus nasutus

Date Collected:

1813-10-15/1848-12-31

Africa: Liberia: Maryland | Cape Palmas (Harper), Caracalla River

occurrenceID: https://mczbase.mcz.harvard.edu/guid/MCZ:Mamm:BOM-9368 JSON-LD

Current Identification
Trichechus senegalensis Link, 1795
Animalia Chordata Mammalia Sirenia Trichechidae
Common Name(s): African manatee; Seacow; West African manatee
Determiner: [no agent data]
Nature of ID: migration
Remarks: Bones of Mammals ledger
Previous Identification
Manatus nasutus Wyman, 1848
Animalia Chordata Mammalia Sirenia Trichechidae
Determiner: Jefferies Wyman in 1848
Nature of ID: type ID
Remarks: species described by Wyman based on descriptions, illustrations, & hair/cuticle samples he obtained from the collector, Perkins. Wyman would not examine the specimen itself until after he had named it. See specimen remarks for type status details

Wyman 1848, page 199, Holotype of Manatus nasutus Wyman, 1848 species named in footnotes of page by J. Wyman, based off Perkins' description (included in publication), as well as illustrations (not included) and biological samples. See specimen remarks for type status details

  • original number: 109
  • other number: 107 (in error?)

Part Condition Disposition Count
skull (dry) rostrum broken anterior to orbits. Nasals missing. Squamosals missing (incl bullae). Posterior palate, pterygoids, maxillary crypts damaged. L maxillary alveolus damaged. 1 L upper & 1 R upper tooth separate. Partial R mandible present w/ partial toothrow in collection 1 History (5)
Remarks: "imperfect skull". Cleaned using dry sponge, 8 Aug 2023 MM
tissue (dry) good in collection 1 History
Remarks: bone; sub-sampled as part of NSF CSBR Holotype grant; transferred to MCZ-CRYO on 2024-01-11
subsampled by = Nina Black   determined date=2024-01-04   determined by=Nina Black  

Attribute Value Determination On
sex female [no agent data], Method: from type description
associated grant Preserving the genomes of the type specimens in the MCZ (CSBR) By: Nina Black 2024-01-11

  • None

  • The species Manatus nasutus was described by Wyman in 1848, based on a written description, illustration, and hair/cuticle samples he had received from the collector, Perkins. While there is no record of the catalog number of the specimen originally described, Daryl P. Domning, in his 1996 "Bibliography and index of the Sirenia and Desmostylia", asserts that the type specimen for M. nasutus is MCZ [BOM] 9368, despite the fact that it was never cited by catalog number by Wyman. Wyman is known to have examined MCZ BOM-9368 (which he himself identified as Manatus nasutus, per Domning), and it is the only manatee specimen known from the type locality. Most measurements of the type specimen in the original publication are of external soft tissue features, but what descriptions do apply to the skull align with MCZ BOM-9368 (tooth/alveolus count, distance between maxillary toothrows). In reviewing the ICZN Code to determine whether this specimen can be called a holotype, the following articles are relevant (from the 4th edition, 2000): 72.4.1.1 (published & unpublished evidence may be used to help determine what specimens constitute type series), Recommendation 72B (illustrating or indicating specimen numbers of only one or some specimens in the type series but not others does not in itself exclude those other specimens from the type series), 72.5.6 (in the case of species named based on illustrations or descriptions, the name-bearing type is the specimen described), and 73.1.2 (if the species is based on a single specimen, either stated or implied in original publication, that specimen is the holotype). In reviewing the original publication, Domning's bibliography notes, and the ICZN code, the MCZ mammal department felt it reasonable to recognize MCZ BOM-9368 as having type status. MM, 7 Aug 2023. See: Domning, D.P. 1996. Bibliography and index of the Sirenia and Desmostylia. Smithsonian Contributions to Paleobiology 80:382.

  • None

  • Continent:
  • Africa
  • Country:
  • Liberia
  • State/Province:
  • Maryland
  • dwc:highergeographyID:
  • http://vocab.getty.edu/tgn/1000415 linked data icon
Specimens with same Higher Geography
Specimens from the same Locality
Specimens from the same Collecting Event
  • Specific Locality:
  • Cape Palmas (Harper), Caracalla River
  • Verbatim Locality:
  • West Africa, Cape Palmas, Caracalla river
  • Locality Remarks:
  • Caracalla = Cavalla River
  • Georeference:
  • 4.38511200°, -7.5604810° (Error radius: 24235m) By: Madeleine Mullon on 2023-08-08 (Source: GEOLocate)
  • Datum:
  • WGS84
  • Coordinates Entered As:
  • decimal degrees
  • Collecting Source:
  • wild caught
  • Began Date / Ended Date:
  • 1813-10-15 / 1848-12-31
  • Verbatim Date:
  • [no verbatim date data]
  • Collecting Event Remarks:
  • verbatim locality based on type description--ledger lists only "Africa: Cape Palmas". Lower end of date collected range derived from collector's date of birth. Upper range derived from year of type description publication
  • Collectors:
  • George A. Perkins; Prof. Jefferies Wyman Collection

  • None

Media type: text; Mammalogy BOM-9351; BOM-9352; BOM-9353; BOM-9354; BOM-9355; BOM-9356; BOM-9357; BOM-9358; BOM-9359; BOM-9360; BOM-9361; BOM-9362; BOM-9363; BOM-9364; BOM-9365; BOM-9366; BOM-9367; BOM-9368; BOM-9369; BOM-9370; BOM-9371; BOM-9372; BOM-9373; BOM-9374; BOM-9375 Description: MCZ Mammalogy Bones bones-006001, pg.135;

(Media Record) (Related) (File)

Ledger Entry for: 25 cataloged items from MCZ:Mamm:BOM-9351 Felis pardalis to MCZ:Mamm:BO...

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