The purpose of this application, under Article 75.5 of the ICZN Code, is to conserve the usage of the generic name Furagrion Petrulevičius, Wappler, Wedmann, Rust & Nel, 2008 for a genus of fossil damselflies, by setting aside the existing holotype of Phenacolestes jutlandicus Henriksen, 1922 (now Furagrion jutlandicus) and designating a neotype. The existing holotype (MGUH 1819; in the Natural History Museum of Denmark, Copenhagen) is an incomplete fossil comprised of the distal two-thirds of the abdomen, the distal half of two wings and a small, unplaceable wing fragment. The diagnostic characters for determining genus-level affiliations of fossil Odonata are generally found in the venation of the basal third of the wings, and the genus Furagrion (type species P. jutlandicus) was diagnosed based on a non-type wing (FUM-N-13856; in the Fur Museum, Nederby, Denmark) using characters in the basal part that are not visible in the holotype of P. jutlandicus. It is not possible to determine whether the holotype of P. jutlandicus is conspecific with the nominal species F. morsi Zessin, 2011, known only from the basal half of a wing, nor whether Furagrion is synonymous with the nominal genus Morsagrion Zessin, 2011 (type species M. ansorgei Zessin, 2011). Recent research has shown that the placement of Furagrion within a suborder and family cannot be established without examining characters of the head and eyes, which are missing in the holotype. We therefore propose that the holotype of P. jutlandicus be set aside and that a complete fossil with all four wings clearly preserved and a complete body including the head (specimen MM-10752 in Museum Mors, Nykøbing Mors, Denmark) be designated as neotype.
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31 December 2024
Case 3893 – Furagrion Petrulevičius et al., 2008 (Insecta, Odonata): proposed conservation of usage by designation of a neotype for its type species Phenacolestes jutlandicus Henriksen, 1922
Thomas J. Simonsen,
S. Bruce Archibald,
Jessica L. Ware,
Jan A. Rasmussen
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