An illustrated type catalogue of Born’s collection at the Natural History Museum Vienna. Part 1: Mollusca (Bivalvia and Scaphopoda), Brachiopoda

By

Eschner, Anita.
Albano, Paolo Giulio.
Mason, Katharina
Gallmetzer, Ivo

Type

Article

Date of Publication

2025-9-3

Original Publication

Zoosystematics and evolution

Volume

101

Series / Issue

Issue: 4

Pages

1691--1745

Subjects

catalogue , Ignaz von Born , lectotype designation , Syntypes , taxonomy , Type specimens

Contributed by

Pensoft Publishers

Language

English

Published by

Sofia Pensoft

Identifiers

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3897/zse.101.161837

 

Abstract

The Natural History Museum Vienna houses a valuable and rich mollusc collection that traces back to the early days of the Linnaean system of nomenclature. Its foundation was laid by Emperor Franz I Stephan of Lorraine through the acquisition of the extensive natural history collection of Johann Ritter von Baillou in 1748. After the Emperor’s death, Ignaz von Born was commissioned to organise the imperial collection. Born began with the study of shells and produced a compact yet extensive book in 1778, containing numerous new species, followed by a lavishly illustrated version in 1780. He was among the first to adopt the Linnaean system, thereby making the names he introduced available according to the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature. Due to the high number of available names and the early publication of his works, Born’s new species and the collection in Vienna play a pivotal role in molluscan taxonomy. Here, we present specimens from the Born collection bearing type status and belonging to Bivalvia, Scaphopoda, and Brachiopoda, including specimens illustrated by Born and later referred to by other authors for the introduction of new names (e.g., Cardium oblongum Gmelin, 1791; C. ventricosum Bruguière, 1789). We designated the lectotype of Cardium aeolicum Born, 1778 to stabilise the nomenclature. We considered the name Cardium magnum Born, 1780 to be unavailable, and thus its use for the designation of the type species of the genus Dinocardium inappropriate. Therefore, we designated Cardium ventricosum Bruguière, 1789 as the new type species of the genus.