Malaysian Rail-babbler

SCI Name:  Eupetes macrocerus
Protonym:  Eupetes macrocerus Pl.Col. livr.87 pl.516
Taxonomy:  Passeriformes / Eupetidae / Eupetes
Taxonomy Code:  marbab1
Type Locality:  Padang [lat. 0° 58'' S., long. 100° 21'' E.], Sumatra.
Author:  Temminck
Publish Year:  1831
IUCN Status:  Near Threatened

DEFINITIONS

EUPETES
(Eupetidae; Ϯ Rail-babbler E. macrocerus) Gr. ευπετης eupetēs   fortunate, favourable, falling well (of dice)  < ευ eu  good; πιπτω piptō  to be thrown down (cf. ευπετης eupetēs  flying well  < ευ eu   good; πετομαι petomai  to fly; "les Eupètes (qui marchent bien)" (Lesson 1831)); "EUPÈTE A LARGE QUEUE [labelled "Eupétes à large queue" on plate 516].  EUPETES MACROCERUS. TEMM.   Ce bel oiseau est plus grand que tous les Fourmillers connus de l'ancien et du nouveau continent; il tient de très-près aux oiseaux compris dans le grand genre Myiothera; comme eux il a tout le corps couvert d'un duvet abondant, et ses plumes sont à barbes dessinées; mais la structure du bec, la longueur des pieds, la forme large et longue de la queue, et la brièveté des ailes, l'éloignent en quelque sorte des vrais Fourmillers." (Temminck 1831); "Eupetes Temminck, 1831, Pl. col., livr. 87, text to pl. 526. Type, by original designation, Eupetes macrocerus Temminck." (Deignan in Peters, 1964, X, p. 238) (see macrocerus).

eupetes
Gr. ευπετης eupetēs  fortunate, favourable, falling well (of dice)  < ευ eu  good; πιπτω piptō  to be thrown down (cf. ευπετης eupetēs  flying well  < ευ eu  fine; πετομαι petomai  to fly).

macrocerus
Gr. μακρος makros long; -ουρος -ouros  -tailed  < ουρα oura tail (cf. κερκος kerkos tail); “The specific name macrocerus Temminck, 1831, seems to have resulted from a printer’s misreading of the word macrourus in the author’s hand-written copy. If there is to be any emendation, it must be taken from Temminck’s own corrected version of 1835 [= 1836, Planches Coloriées, livr. 97, text to pl. 573]. Unfortunately, for more than a century the spelling has been unjustifiably altered to macrocercus by almost all authors. Inasmuch as the original spelling macrocerus forms a pronounceable (although inappropriate) name, carries a visual resemblance to macrocercus, and has been used by several well-known ornithologists during the past thirty years, I retain the solecistic name of 1831 and treat the corrected name of 1835 [= 1836] as a nomen emendatum” (Deignan in Peters X 1964) (Eupetes).

SUBSPECIES

Malaysian Rail-babbler (macrocerus)
SCI Name: Eupetes macrocerus macrocerus
macrocerus
Gr. μακρος makros long; -ουρος -ouros  -tailed  < ουρα oura tail (cf. κερκος kerkos tail); “The specific name macrocerus Temminck, 1831, seems to have resulted from a printer’s misreading of the word macrourus in the author’s hand-written copy. If there is to be any emendation, it must be taken from Temminck’s own corrected version of 1835 [= 1836, Planches Coloriées, livr. 97, text to pl. 573]. Unfortunately, for more than a century the spelling has been unjustifiably altered to macrocercus by almost all authors. Inasmuch as the original spelling macrocerus forms a pronounceable (although inappropriate) name, carries a visual resemblance to macrocercus, and has been used by several well-known ornithologists during the past thirty years, I retain the solecistic name of 1831 and treat the corrected name of 1835 [= 1836] as a nomen emendatum” (Deignan in Peters X 1964) (Eupetes).

Malaysian Rail-babbler (borneensis)
SCI Name: Eupetes macrocerus borneensis
bornea / borneana / borneanum / borneanus / borneense / borneensis / bornensis / borneoensis / borneonense / borneonensis / borneus
Borneo  < Malay Brunei  the Barunai or Brunei Sultanate, wealthy, powerful and more extensive in the 15th century  < Sanskrit Váruna  water, rain.
● Erroneous TL. Borneo (= Amboina); "44. PSITTACUS.  ...  borneus.  6. P. macrourus ruber, remigibus rectricibusque apice viridibus, alis macula cærulea.  Psittacus coccineus, cauda longiore. Edw. av. 173. t. 173.  Habitat in India: Borneo." (Linnaeus 1758) (Eos). This name, albeit erroneous, is the fourth toponym in avian nomenclature.