Vitelline Masked Weaver (as Ploceus sublarvatus), figure from Reichenbach 1863
Vitelline Masked Weaver (as Ploceus vitellinus), figure from Reichenbach 1863
Vitelline Masked Weaver type specimen (ZMB_7298)
Vitelline Masked Weaver distribution, type locality circled
Introduction
The Vitelline Masked Weaver was formally described by Martin Lichtenstein, a German physician and explorer, who was appointed as director of the Berlin Zoological Museum from 1813.
Lichtenstein wrote a brief description in Latin for the Vitelline Masked Weaver, and noted its origin as Senegambia. He did not mention the collector, but two type specimens are in the Berlin Museum of Natural History, and the labels list Delbruck, a German collector. Lichtenstein listed 3 specimens, but one was sold to (or exchanged with) the museum in Vienna (Pelzeln 1887). Although Lichtenstein often sold or exchanged duplicate specimens before adequately describing them, he made the Berlin Museum one of the most active ornithological research centres in Europe.
The first illustration of a Vitelline Masked Weaver is a colour painting by Muller 1854 (but I do not have a copy of this). The next illustration is a set of birds painted in colour by Reichenbach (1863).
Weaver Watch
