Apus Alexandri Bird

English Name:  Alexander's Swift
Latin Name:  Apus alexandri
Protonym:  Apus unicolor alexandri Novit.Zool. 8 p.328
Taxonomy:  Caprimulgiformes / Apodidae / Apus
Taxonomy Code:  aleswi1
Type Locality:  Sao Nicolao, Cape Verde Islands.
Author:  Hartert, E
Publish Year:  1901
IUCN Status:  Least Concern

DEFINITIONS

APUS
(Apodidae; Ϯ Common Swift A. apus) Specific name Hirundo apus Linnaeus, 1758; "APVS. BELLON. Alæ arcuatæ, ultra caudam sedentis extensæ. Nares ellipticæ, duplicatura in exteriore cantho instructæ. Mandibula utraque apice deflexa. Digiti quatuor, omnes anticis.  HIRVNDO Apus. LINN." (Scopoli 1777); “Three generic names have been used at various times for the Swifts. Apus Scopoli  ...  is preoccupied by Apos, introduced by the same author on p. 404 for a genus of Crustaceans. As these names are identical except for the interchange of “o” and “u,” the earlier one only is valid. The second is Micropus Meyer & Wolf [1810]  ...  This has been rejected by Sharpe (Hand-List, ii. 1900, p. 95), as the same name was applied to a genus of plants by Linnaeus, but under the present rules this no longer renders a name invalid for zoology, and Micropus should therefore be used. The third name, Cypselus Illiger, 1811, was used in the 1^st edition of the List and by most of the earlier authors” (BOU 1915); "Apus Scopoli, Intr. Hist. Nat., 1777, p. 483. Type, by tautonymy, Hirundo apus Linné.¹   ...   ¹ Not preoccupied by Apos Scopoli, 1777, Crustacea.  Replaces Cypselus Illiger, 1811, of Sharpe's Hand-list and Micropus Meyer and Wolf, 1810, of many recent authors." (Peters, 1940, IV, p. 244).   
Synon. Apodium, Brachypus, Brevipes, Caffrapus, Colletoptera, Cypselus, Drepanis, Epicypselus, Micropus, Tetragonopyga.

apus
● L. apus, apodis  swift, type of swallow said to have no feet  < Gr. απους apous, αποδος apodos  bird of the swallow kind  < negative prefix α- a- ; πους pous, ποδος podos  foot; "101. HIRUNDO.  ...  Apus.  5. H. nigricans, gula alba, digitis omnibus quatuor anticis.  Hirundo tota nigra, gula albicante. Fn. svec. 246.  Hirundo Apus. Bell. av. 100. a. Gesn. av. 166. Aldr. orn. l. 17. c. 10. Jonst. av. 119. t. 42. Will. orn. 156. t. 39. Raj. av. 72. n. 4. Alb. av. 2. p. 51. t. 55. Frisch. av. 3. t. 17. f. 1.  Habitat in Europæ altis.  In terram decidens non evolat; capitur hamo Cicadæ inserto. Bell. 16." (Linnaeus 1758) (Apus).
● Gr. απους apous, αποδος apodos  bird of the swallow kind; ex “Becque Fleur” of Levaillant 1803, pl. 134 (syn. Anthoscopus minutus).

alexandri / alexandrii
● Capt. Boyd Francis Alexander (1873-1910) British Army, ornithologist, collector, explorer (Apus, syn. Chamaetylas poliocephala, subsp. Falco tinnunculus, syn. Ploceus baglafecht eremobius, syn. Tricholaema frontata).
● Alexandre Antoine Dybowski (1850-1914) brother of French botanist and collector Jean Thadée Emmanuel Dybowski (syn. Andropadus curvirostris).
● Dr Alexandre (fl. 1840) who practised in Mexico and sent specimens to Paris; the “Alexandre” of Bourcier & Mulsant 1846 (Archilochus).
● Alexandra (= Alexandria), Northern Territory, Australia (syn. Ardea pacifica).
● A. H. Alexander (fl. 1878) US taxidermist, plumassier (syn. Heliodoxa xanthogonys).
● Dr Frank Alexander Wetmore (1886-1978) US ornithologist, systematist, collector (subsp. Henicorhina leucosticta, Milvago).
● "I name this bird after Dr Alexander Smith, to whom the Museum has often been indebted for additions to its collection" (Sharpe 1874) (OD per Björn Bergenholtz) (syn. Parmoptila woodhousei ☼).
● Alexander the Great (356-323 BC) King of Macedonia, whose conquering armies introduced eastern parakeets to Greece; "44. PSITTACUS.  ...  alexandri.  9. P. macrourus viridis, collari pectoreque rubro, gula nigra. Amœn. acad. 4. p.  Psittacus cubicularius, cauda cuneiformi, digito interiore postice truncato. Hasselq. itin. 235.  Psittacus javanicus. Osb. iter. 101.  Psittacus torquatus macrourus antiquorum. Will. orn. 77. t. 16. f. 3.  Psittacus viridis ex ind. orientali. Alb. av. 2. t. 18. & 3. t. 14.  Psittacus torquatus macrourus antiquorum. Aldr. av. l. 11. c. 12. Raj. av. 33.  Perrocello. Olin. av. 24. t. 24.  Habitat in China, Benghala, Æthiopia.  Primus (totus viridis torque miniato) innotuit sub expeditione Alexandri magni. Plin." (Linnaeus 1758). This name is the first eponym in avian nomenclature (Psittacula).