Proposal (672) to South American Classification Committee

English names for Stephanoxis loddigesii and Stephanoxis lalandi

Background: SACC voted (Proposal 664) to recognize two species of Stephanoxis. SACC has not yet addressed the issue English names for each of the two taxa involved, however. In the meantime, the world has not waited for SACC to weigh in on the question. The name "Green-crowned Plovercrest" is "universally" adopted for Stephanoxis lalandi. As for Stephanoxis loddigesii, two names are in contention: "Purple-crowned Plovercrest" (adopted by IOC) and "Violet-crowned Plovercrest" (adopted by HBW Alive). So the simplest move on SACC's part is simply to ratify these names. 

Recommendation: I recommend adopting the names Green-crowned Plovercrest for lalandi, and Purple-crowned Plovercrest for loddigesii, "purple" apparently being the more accurate assessment of the predominant color of the crown. Therefore, this proposal is set up as an up/down vote on Green-crowned Plovercrest (lalandi) and Purple-crowned Plovercrest (loddigesii): YES is for these names, NO is for anything else.

Tom Schulenberg, June 2015

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Comments from Remsen: “YES. In the original taxonomic proposal, I noted that HBW used “Violet-crowned. Correspondence with Nigel Collar indicates that the crown is closer to purple than to violet, and so HBW/BLI will likely revert to ‘Purple.’”

Comments from Zimmer: “YES to adopting Green-crowned Plovercrest for lalandi, and Purple-crowned Plovercrest for loddigesii.”