Great White Pelican

SCI Name:  Pelecanus onocrotalus
Protonym:  Pelecanus Onocrotalus Syst.Nat.ed.10 p.132
Taxonomy:  Pelecaniformes / Pelecanidae / Pelecanus
Taxonomy Code:  grwpel1
Type Locality:  Africa, Asia; Caspian Sea, Russia, suggested as restricted type locality by Grant and Mackworth-Praed, 1933, Bull. Brit. Ornith. Club, 53, p. 189
Author:  Linnaeus
Publish Year:  1758
IUCN Status:  Least Concern

DEFINITIONS

PELECANUS
(Pelecanidae; Ϯ Great White Pelican P. onocrotalus) Gr. πελεκαν pelekan, πελεκανος pelekanos  pelican; "66. PELECANUS.  Rostrum edentulum, rectum: apice adunco, unguiculato.  Nares lineares, obliteratæ.  Facies nudiuscula.  Pedes digitis omnibus quatuor simul palmatis." (Linnaeus 1758); "Pelecanus Linnaeus, 1758, Syst. Nat., ed. 10, p. 132. Type, by subsequent designation (G. R. Gray, 1840, List Gen. Birds, p. 80), Pelecanus onocrotalus Linnaeus." (Dorst & Mougin in Peters 1979, I, ed. 2, 188). Linnaeus's Pelecanus comprised five species (P. Onocrotalus, P. Aquilus, P. Carbo, P. Bassanus, P. Piscator).
Var. Pelicanus, Pilecanus, Pelecanis.
Synon. Alcatras, Catoptropelicanus, Cyrtopelicanus, Leptopelicanus, Metapelecanus, Neopelecanus, Onocrotalus, Sacrificator.
● (syn. Fregata Ϯ Ascension Frigatebird F. aquila) "197. PELICANUS.  Tail forked.  P. aquilus, or Frigatebird." (Fleming 1822).
● (syn. Platalea Ϯ Eurasian Spoonbill P. leucorodia) "60. LEPELAAR, PELIKAAN, in 't Latyn Pelecanus.  By den Heer LINNÆUS geplaatst onder de Eenden met den naam van Platea. Syst. Nat. geslacht 48" (Moehring 1758).

pelecanus
L. pelecanus  pelican  < Gr. πελεκαν pelekan, πελεκανος pelekanos  pelican.

onocrotalus
● Unattested Gr. ονοκροταλος onokrotalos  donkey-rattle  < ονος onos  donkey, ass; κροταλον krotalon  rattle, clapper; "The notes of the birds of New Holland are rather cries than songs, but many of them are pleasing and plaintive.  Some are harsh and vulgar, like those of the parrot-kind, the cockatoo, the coachman's whip-bird, the bellbird (which I call the creaking-wheel-bird), the razor-grinder, and the laughing jack-ass (a species of kings-fisher*)  ...  (*To which I would have given the name of alcedo onocrotalus; but I am informed that it is the dacelo gigantea of Dr Leach, or the great brown kingsfisher of White.)" (B. Field 1825) (syn. Dacelo novaeguineae).
● L. onocrotalus  pelican  < Gr. ονοκροταλος onokrotalos  pelican; "66. PELECANUS.  ...  Onocrotalus.  1. P. gula saccata. Syst. nat. 23.  Onocrotalus. Olear. mus. t. 13. f. 1. Dod. mem. 3. p. 86.  Onocrotalus s. Pelecanus. Aldr. orn. l. 19. c. 2. Will. orn. 246. t. 63. Raj. av. 121. Marsil. danub. 6. t. 35. Edw. av. 92. t. 92. Bont. jav. 68.  β. Onocrotalus s. Pelecanus fuscus. Sloan. jam. 2. p. 322. Raj. av. 191.  Onocrotalus americanus. Edw. av. 93. t. 93.  Habitat in Africa, Asia, β in America.  Remiges nigræ.  An americanus β fuscus ab orientali albo specie sufficienter distinctus?  Sacco gulari aquam siticulosis pullis adfert, ut & conterranei sitim expleant intactis pullis." (Linnaeus 1758) (Pelecanus).

Onocrotalus
(syn. Pelecanus Ϯ Great White Pelican P. onocrotalus) L. onocrotalus  pelican  < Gr. ονοκροταλος onokrotalos  pelican; "65. KROPGANS, in het Latyn Onocrotalus.  By WILLUGHBY.  LINNÆUS heeft dit geslacht Syst. Nat. gesl. 50, onder den naam van Pelekaan, Pelecanus" (Moehring 1758); "Genus Onocrotali.   Le genre du Pélican." (Brisson 1760): based on "Onocrotalus" or "Pelecanus" of all earlier authors; "XVI. ONOCROTALVS Auctorum.  PELECANVS Onocrotalus LIN." (S. Gmelin 1770).    Var. Onocratalus, Onocratulus.