Ichthyosaura as a generic nomen for the Alpine Newt (Caudata: Salamandridae): a doubtful case of literarian archeology

Since the partition of the traditional genus Triturus Rafinesque, 1820 by Garcia Paris et al. (2004), the Al­pine Newt, formerly Triturus alpestris (Laurenti, 1768), was first assigned to Mesotriton Bolkay, 1927. This allocation was challenged by Schmidtler (2004, 2009) who had unearthed and revived the older but almost never used name Ichthyo­saura Sonnini & Latreille, 1802, a potential nomen oblitum which was based on the flawed drawing of a larva figured by Laurenti (1768) as Proteus tritonius, bearing the type locality “in alpe Etscher”. Because of this locality, the otherwise uni­dentifiably drawn larva was interpreted as belonging to the Alpine Newt and was considered as the “iconotype” of Ichthyosaura alpestris n. comb. sensu Schmidtler (2009). This proposal has been controversially discussed, and eventually the supporters of this nomenclatural innovation gained the upper hand. We show that the argumentation of the advocates of replacing Mesotriton by Ichthyosaura overlooked some important aspects in Laurenti’s work concerning the type locali­ties of both the nomina Proteus tritonius and Triton alpestris. Also, details of the illustrated larva and Laurenti’s descrip­tion of its collecting site and circumstances do not support the view that this “iconotype” could unambiguously be referred to the Alpine Newt. Moreover, Laurenti himself expressly denied the identity of these two nomina. Therefore, according to Article 12.2.5. ICZN, Ichthyosaura must be regarded as a nomen dubium. To resolve this uncertainty, we designate a to­potypic larva of Salamandra salamandra (Linnaeus, 1758) as the neotype for Proteus tritonius Laurenti, 1768, rendering Laurenti’s name synonymous with the Fire Salamander. Consequently, the Alpine Newt must be named again Mesotriton alpestris (Bolkay, 1927).