African Swift

SCI Name:  Apus barbatus
Protonym:  Cypselus barbatus Proc.Zool.Soc.London(1865) (1865), Pt3 p.599
Taxonomy:  Caprimulgiformes / Apodidae / Apus
Taxonomy Code:  afrswi1
Type Locality:  South Africa; the type is from Cape Province, fide Grant and Mackworth-Praed, antea, p. 49.
Author:  Sclater, PL
Publish Year:  1866
IUCN Status:  

DEFINITIONS

APUS
(Apodidae; Ϯ Common Swift A. apus) Specific name Hirundo apus Linnaeus, 1758; "APVS. BELLON. Alæ arcuatæ, ultra caudam sedentis extensæ. Nares ellipticæ, duplicatura in exteriore cantho instructæ. Mandibula utraque apice deflexa. Digiti quatuor, omnes anticis.  HIRVNDO Apus. LINN." (Scopoli 1777); “Three generic names have been used at various times for the Swifts. Apus Scopoli  ...  is preoccupied by Apos, introduced by the same author on p. 404 for a genus of Crustaceans. As these names are identical except for the interchange of “o” and “u,” the earlier one only is valid. The second is Micropus Meyer & Wolf [1810]  ...  This has been rejected by Sharpe (Hand-List, ii. 1900, p. 95), as the same name was applied to a genus of plants by Linnaeus, but under the present rules this no longer renders a name invalid for zoology, and Micropus should therefore be used. The third name, Cypselus Illiger, 1811, was used in the 1^st edition of the List and by most of the earlier authors” (BOU 1915); "Apus Scopoli, Intr. Hist. Nat., 1777, p. 483. Type, by tautonymy, Hirundo apus Linné.¹   ...   ¹ Not preoccupied by Apos Scopoli, 1777, Crustacea.  Replaces Cypselus Illiger, 1811, of Sharpe's Hand-list and Micropus Meyer and Wolf, 1810, of many recent authors." (Peters, 1940, IV, p. 244).   
Synon. Apodium, Brachypus, Brevipes, Caffrapus, Colletoptera, Cypselus, Drepanis, Epicypselus, Micropus, Tetragonopyga.

apus
● L. apus, apodis  swift, type of swallow said to have no feet  < Gr. απους apous, αποδος apodos  bird of the swallow kind  < negative prefix α- a- ; πους pous, ποδος podos  foot; "101. HIRUNDO.  ...  Apus.  5. H. nigricans, gula alba, digitis omnibus quatuor anticis.  Hirundo tota nigra, gula albicante. Fn. svec. 246.  Hirundo Apus. Bell. av. 100. a. Gesn. av. 166. Aldr. orn. l. 17. c. 10. Jonst. av. 119. t. 42. Will. orn. 156. t. 39. Raj. av. 72. n. 4. Alb. av. 2. p. 51. t. 55. Frisch. av. 3. t. 17. f. 1.  Habitat in Europæ altis.  In terram decidens non evolat; capitur hamo Cicadæ inserto. Bell. 16." (Linnaeus 1758) (Apus).
● Gr. απους apous, αποδος apodos  bird of the swallow kind; ex “Becque Fleur” of Levaillant 1803, pl. 134 (syn. Anthoscopus minutus).

barbatus
L. barbatus  bearded  < barba  beard (see barbata).
● "There are two South-African specimens of a Swift in the Leyden Museum labelled "Cypselus barbatus," which differs from European examples principally in their lighter colour above, particularly on the secondaries and scapulars, in the white feathers of the gular patch presenting a narrow black central line, and in the feathers of the lower back, belly, and under wing-coverts being narrowly margined with white.  Two specimens from Natal, collected by Mr. Ayres are similar.  It is possible that this form may be entitled to rank as a species, to which Temminck's MS. name may be applied." (P. Sclater 1865) (Apus).
● "DENDRORTYX BARBATUS.  Bearded Partridge.  ...  Head slightly crested, the feathers of which are dark brown; forehead brownish buff; stripe above and behind the eye, throat and sides of the neck leaden grey" (Gould 1846) (Dendrortyx).
● "40. VULTUR.  ...  barbatus.  5. V. albidus, dorso fusco, jugulo barbato, rostro incarnato, capite linea nigra cincto.  Vultur aureus. Gesn. av. 783. t. 781.  Vultur barbatus. Edv. av. 106. t. 106.  Habitat in Africa.  Ad basin maxillæ inferioris barba dependet; frons oculorumque regio atra." (Linnaeus 1758) (Gypaetus). This epithet is the fifth name and first adjectival in avian nomenclature.
● ex “Barbichon de Cayenne” of d’Aubenton 1765-1781, pl. 830, and “Whiskered Fly-catcher” of Latham 1783 (Myiobius).
● ex “Bearded Parrakeet” of Latham 1781 (syn. Psittacula alexandri).
● ex “Merle barbu” of Desfontaines 1789: “Le bec est noir, un peu arqué, long de six à sept lignes; de sa base naissent cinq à six petites soies brunes, roides, de la grosseur d’un crin de cheval” (Pycnonotus).
● ex “Pic à Doubles Moustaches” of Levaillant 1808, pl. 251 (syn. Thripias namaquus).

SUBSPECIES

African Swift (Bioko)
SCI Name: Apus barbatus sladeniae
sladeniae
Constance Sladen née Anderson (1848-1906) English artist, archaeologist, wife of zoologist Walter P. Sladen (Apus).

African Swift (African)
SCI Name: Apus barbatus [barbatus Group]
APUS
(Apodidae; Ϯ Common Swift A. apus) Specific name Hirundo apus Linnaeus, 1758; "APVS. BELLON. Alæ arcuatæ, ultra caudam sedentis extensæ. Nares ellipticæ, duplicatura in exteriore cantho instructæ. Mandibula utraque apice deflexa. Digiti quatuor, omnes anticis.  HIRVNDO Apus. LINN." (Scopoli 1777); “Three generic names have been used at various times for the Swifts. Apus Scopoli  ...  is preoccupied by Apos, introduced by the same author on p. 404 for a genus of Crustaceans. As these names are identical except for the interchange of “o” and “u,” the earlier one only is valid. The second is Micropus Meyer & Wolf [1810]  ...  This has been rejected by Sharpe (Hand-List, ii. 1900, p. 95), as the same name was applied to a genus of plants by Linnaeus, but under the present rules this no longer renders a name invalid for zoology, and Micropus should therefore be used. The third name, Cypselus Illiger, 1811, was used in the 1^st edition of the List and by most of the earlier authors” (BOU 1915); "Apus Scopoli, Intr. Hist. Nat., 1777, p. 483. Type, by tautonymy, Hirundo apus Linné.¹   ...   ¹ Not preoccupied by Apos Scopoli, 1777, Crustacea.  Replaces Cypselus Illiger, 1811, of Sharpe's Hand-list and Micropus Meyer and Wolf, 1810, of many recent authors." (Peters, 1940, IV, p. 244).   
Synon. Apodium, Brachypus, Brevipes, Caffrapus, Colletoptera, Cypselus, Drepanis, Epicypselus, Micropus, Tetragonopyga.