Object Status:
Unlocated
Accession Date:
By 1812
Notes:
Wilson's specimen (ANSP 1551) was identified as the holotype of B. platypterus by Stone (1899, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia 51: 11). The label attached to the specimen states that there was an "inscription on [the] bottom of [the] stand" (now lost) which read: "orig. specimen fig. by Wilson from Peale's Museum." The specimen ledger in which Stone catalogued the bird reads: "Alex. Wilson's TYPE from Peale's Museum, in exch. 1856" (ANSP Archives, coll. 54). Presumably, the specimen was purchased (not exchanged) at the 1848 Sheriff's Sale by ANSP curator, John Cassin (1813-1869), but the details of this transaction are poorly known.
For more discussion about the ANSP types of Wilson and their provenance, see Matthew R. Halley, 2020, "Rediscovery of a lost type specimen of Alexander Wilson", Wilson Journal of Ornithology 132: 206-213; and Matthew R. Halley, 2022, "Rediscovery of the holotype of the American Goshawk, Accipiter gentilis atricapillus (Wilson, 1812), and a commentary about Alexander Wilson’s contributions to the Peale Museum", Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia 167: 233-240).
Specimen Type:
Dead/preserved
Current Common Name:
Broad-winged Hawk
Current Scientific Name
Accipitridae | Buteo platypterus
Repository:
Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University (ANSP 1551)
