Talk:Megalonyx

Correct authorship for this genus

Authorship for this genus is given in McKenna & Bell, 1997 (following Simpson, 1945) as Harlan, 1825 (Simpson claimed that prior publication of the name by Jefferson, 1799 resulted in a genus that was "non-existent". This is in contradiction to the facts: Jefferson did publish the genus name (as "the Great-Claw or Megalonyx") on p. 248 of his work:

Jefferson, T., 1799. A memoir on the discovery of certain bones of a quadruped of the clawed kind in the western parts of Virginia. Transactions of the American Philosophical Society, 4, pp.246-260. https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/12181210

This matter has been recently discussed over on Wikipedia, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia_talk:WikiProject_Tree_of_Life#Authority_of_Megalonyx , where Doug Yanega, an ICZN commissioner, writes:

Jefferson's authorship is cut-and-dry. The ICZN generally does not accept a case unless there is some question about the correct application of the Code. That is, formal applications to the Commission generally involve setting aside the rules of the Code in order to achieve a desired outcome that is otherwise contravened. In this specific case, only if everyone wanted Harlan to be the author would there need to be a formal application and vote and ruling, because Harlan is not the author under the Code.

Accordingly I believe that this Wikispecies entry should be amended to give authorship for the genus Megalonyx to Jefferson, 1799, not Harlan, 1825.

Thoughts? Tony 1212 (talk) 02:36, 14 February 2024 (UTC)

Article clarifying nomenclatural history came out yesterday. I have updated page.

• Babcock, L.E. 2024. Nomenclatural history of Megalonyx Jefferson, 1799 (Mammalia, Xenarthra, Pilosa, Megalonychidae). ZooKeys 1195: 297–308. DOI: 10.3897/zookeys.1195.117999 Reference page.  Neferkheperre (talk) 16:31, 19 March 2024 (UTC)