General
Articles and Nomenclatural Notes with
the following titles were published
on 30 September 2005 in Volume 62,
Part 3 of the Bulletin of Zoological
Nomenclature
Copies
of these General Articles and Nomenclatural
Notes can be obtained free of charge
from the Executive Secretary, The International
Commission on Zoological Nomenclature,
c/o The Natural History Museum, Cromwell
Road, London SW7 5BD, U.K. (e-mail: iczn@nhm.ac.uk).
Nomenclatural Note
The gender of
genus-group names ending in either –otis or –otus
Alfred L. Gardner
USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center,
National Museum of Natural
History, Smithsonian Institution, P.O.
Box 37012, Washington, D.C.,
20013–7012 U.S.A. (e-mail:
gardnera@si.edu)
The gender of genus-group
names ending in either –otis or –otus has
been the cause of some confusion. Inappropriate
derivation of generic names, in particular
of a number of genera of birds and mammals,
has led to the incorrect formation of some
species-group names associated with them.
The genus-group name Cryptotis is
a Latinized word derived from the Greek krupt-
(the stem of kruptos) plus ot-
(from the stem of the genitive form of ous),
with the Latin ending –is.
Therefore, Article 30.1.2 of the Code does
not apply because neither Cryptotis nor –otis can
be interpreted as a Greek word of fixed
gender transliterated into Latin without
other changes. David & Gosselin (2002,
p. 266) discussed this problem. Unfortunately,
the Code does not offer guidance for generic
names ending in –is. Cryptotis is
to be treated as a noun in the nominative
singular and, because the ending –is does
not indicate a specific gender, Cryptotis must
be treated as a word of common gender.
According to Article 30.1.4.2 a word of
common gender ‘is to be treated as
masculine unless its author, when establishing
the name, stated that it is feminine or
treated it as feminine in combination with
an adjectival species-group name.’ Even
if priority of usage is invoked, Pomel’s
(1848, p. 249) description of Cryptotis,
with Musaraneus cinereus (masculine)
as its only included species, cannot be
construed as treatment as feminine. In
a different example, David
& Gosselin (2002, p. 167) concluded
that the avian name Xanthotis Reichenbach,
1852 (Aves) is masculine because it was
first established in combination
with flaviventris, an adjective not indicating
a particular gender. David & Gosselin
(2002) also commented that the name Xanthotis (as
well as Melanotis and Euptilotis)
should not be confused with names ending
in the feminine Greek and Latin noun otis,
which means bustard.
The following is a partial list of
genus-group names ending in either –otis or –otus (formed
from the same root, but with the second
declension ending –us).
Some of these are avian names with the
terminal stem derived from otis (bustard).
Aotus = A (lacking) + ot (ear)
+ us (Latin second declension ending) = masculine
(Mammalia)
Ardeotis = Arde (heron-like) + otis (bustard)
= feminine (Aves)
Chlamydotis = Chlamyd (mantle[ed]) + otis (bustard)
= feminine (Aves)
Cryptotis = Crypt (hidden) + ot (ear[ed])
+ is (Latin third declension ending) = masculine
(Mammalia)
Dolichotis = Dolich (long) + ot (ear[ed])
+ is (Latin third declension ending) = treated as
neuter by Cabrera (1961) (Mammalia)
Eupodotis = Eu (well) + pod (foot[ed])
+ otis (bustard) = feminine (Aves)
Euptilotis = Eu (well) + ptil (feather[ed])
+ ot (ear) + is (Latin third declension ending)
= masculine (Aves)
Histiotus = Histi (sail) + ot (ear[ed])
+ us (Latin second declension ending) = masculine
(Mammalia)
Laephotis = Laeph (sail) + ot (ear[ed])
+ is (Latin third declension ending) = masculine
(Mammalia)
Macrotus = Macr (long, large) + ot (ear[ed])
+ us (Latin second declension ending) = masculine
(Mammalia)
Melanotis = Melan (black) + ot (ear[ed])
+ is (Latin third declension ending) = masculine
(Aves)
Microtus = Micr (small) + ot (ear[ed])
+ us (Latin second declension ending) = masculine
(Mammalia)
Myotis = My (mouse) + ot (ear[ed])
+ is (Latin third declension ending) = masculine
(Mammalia)
Otus = Ot (ear[ed]) + us (Latin
second declension ending) = masculine (Aves)
Phyllotis = Phyll (leaf-like) + ot (ear[ed])
+ is (Latin third declension ending) = masculine
(Mammalia)
Plecotus = Plec (twist[ed]) + ot (ear[ed])
+ us (Latin second declension ending) = masculine
(Mammalia)
Xanthotis = Xanth (yellow) + ot (ear[ed])
+ is (Latin third declension ending) = masculine
(Aves)
These examples are given in support
of Case 3328, Didelphis Linnaeus,
1758 (Mammalia, DIDELPHIDAE): proposed
correction of gender, and Cryptotis Pomel,
1848 (Mammalia, SORICIDAE): proposed fixation
of gender (see BZN 62:
142–145).
References
Cabrera, A. 1961.
Cata´logo de los mami´feros
de Ame´rica del Sur. Revista
del Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales <Bernardino
Rivadavia>, Ciencias Zoologicas, 4(2):
xvii–xxii, 309–732.
David, N. & Gosselin, M. 2002. The grammatical
gender of avian genera. Bulletin of the British Ornithologists’
Club, 122: 257-282.
Pomel, A. 1848. Etudes sur les carnassiers
insectivores (extrait). Seconde partie, Classification des
insectivores. Archive des Sciences Physiques et Naturelles,
Genève, 9: 244–251.
Reichenbach, H.G.L. 1852. Handbuch der speciellen
Ornithologie. Abth. 2, Meropinae, continuation no. IX, 6
(unnumbered), pp. 45-144. Expedition der Vollständigsten
Naturgeschihte, Dresden und Leipzig.
