Published December 31, 2005 | Version v1
Taxonomic treatment Open

Vicugna vicugna

Description

Vicugna vicugna (Molina 1782)

[Camelus] vicugna Molina 1782, Sagg. Stor. Nat. Chile: 313.

Type Locality: Chile, "abondano nella parte della Cordigliera spettante alle Provincie de Coquimbo, e di Copiapò" (cordilleras of Coquimbo and Copiapo).

Vernacular Names: Vicugna.

Synonyms: Vicugna elfridae (Krumbiegel 1949); Vicugna frontosa (H. Gervais and Ameghino 1880); Vicugna gracilis (H. Gervais and Ameghino 1880); Vicugna mensalis (Thomas 1917); Vicugna minuta (Burmeister 1891); Vicugna pristina (Amhegino 1891); Vicugna provicugna (Boule 1920); Vicugna vicunia (Tschudi 1844); Vicugna vicunna (Tiedemann 1804).

Distribution: NW Argentina, W Bolivia, N Chile, and S Peru.

Conservation: CITES – Appendix I [except for populations of Bolivia and Peru, and parts of the population in Argentina and Chile, which are included in Appendix II]; U.S. ESA – Endangered; IUCN – Lower Risk (cd).

Discussion: Systematics reviewed by Wheeler (1995). Regarded as polytypic (mensalis a distinct subspecies) by some authors (Haltenorth, 1963) but systematics here follows Cabrera (1961). Kadwell et al. (2001) suggested that the Alpaca should be assigned to Vicugna. Gentry et al. (1996) had already proposed that majority usage be confirmed by adoption of Vicugna vicugna as the name for the wild taxon of Vicugna on the assumption that the Alpaca is the domesticated descendent and asked the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature to use its plenary powers to rule that the name for this wild species is not invalid by virtue of being antedated by pacos, the name based on the domestic form. A ruling has been made in their favour (International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature, 2003 a).

Notes

Published as part of Wilson, Don E. & Reeder, DeeAnn, 2005, Order Artiodactyla, pp. 637-722 in Mammal Species of the World: a Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3 rd Edition), Volume 1, Baltimore :The Johns Hopkins University Press on page 647, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.7316519

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Linked records

Additional details

Biodiversity

Family
Camelidae
Genus
Vicugna
Kingdom
Animalia
Order
Artiodactyla
Phylum
Chordata
Scientific name authorship
Molina
Species
vicugna
Taxon rank
species
Taxonomic concept label
Vicugna vicugna (Molina, 1782) sec. Wilson & Reeder, 2005

References

  • Molina, G. I. 1782. Saggio sulla storia naturale del Chili. Stamperia di S. Tommaso d'Aquino, Bologna.
  • Wheeler, J. C. 1995. Evolution and present situation of the South American Camelidae. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 54: 271 - 295.
  • Haltenorth, T. 1963. Klassifikation der Saugetiere: Artiodactyla I. Handbuch der Zoologie, 8 (32): 1 - 167.
  • Kadwell, M., M. Fernandez, H. F. Stanley, R. Baldi, J. C. Wheeler, R. Rosadio, and M. W. Bruford. 2001. Genetic analysis reveals the wild ancestors of the llama and the alpaca. Proceedings of the Royal Society Biological Sciences Series B, 268: 2575 - 2584.
  • Gentry, A., J. Clutton-Brock, and C. P. Groves. 1996. Case 3010. Proposed conservation of usage of 15 mammal specific names based on wild species which are antedated by or contemporary with those based on domestic animals. Bulletin of Zoological Nomenclature, 53: 28 - 37.
  • International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature. 2003 a. Opinion 2027. Usage of 17 specific names based on wild species which are pre-dated by or contemporary with those based on domestic animals (Lepidoptera, Osteichthyes, Mammalia): Conserved. Bulletin of Zoological Nomenclature, 60: 81 - 84.