Resolution of the type material of the Asian elephant, Elephas maximus Linnaeus, 1758 (Proboscidea, Elephantidae)

On the identity of Didelphis marsupialis Linnaeus 1758

Given the confusion ensuing from a recent study suggesting that the name Didelphis marsupialis should be applied to white-eared opossums instead of the traditional view that it represents a black-eared opossum, we reviewed all the sources employed by Linnaeus to describe D. marsupialis and examined photographs of the putative type specimen, comparing them with specimens of black- and white-eared Didelphis. We conclude that the type specimen presents characters that would allow us to diagnose it as a black-eared opossum species. We believe that the proposed nomenclatural changes not only are unjustified but also disrupt the stability advocated by the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN).