Water Buffalo – Bubalus bubalis

Bubalus bubalisLinnaeus, 1758

Accepted name, Mammal Species of the World 2005

Includes arnee, the name used for the species by those workers who do not employ specific names based on domestic mammals; bubalis is the senior synonym; see Ellerman and Morrison-Scott (1951:383); but see also Corbet and Hill (1991:130). Gentry et al. (1996) proposed that majority usage be confirmed by adoption of Bubalus arnee as the name for the wild taxon of water buffaloes, though it has not been demonstrated that most authors term the wild buffalo B. arnee rather than B. bubalis (or B. b. arnee). They asked the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature to use its plenary powers to rule that the name for this wild species is not invalid by virtue of being antedated by the name based on the domestic form. A ruling has now been made in their favour (International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature, 2003a). It may still be valid for those who consider B. bubalis and B. arnee to be conspecific to employ the se... [truncated]

• Wilson, D and Reeder, D. (eds.) 2005. Mammal Species of the World. A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference. 3rd ed. -- 2142 pp. Johns Hopkins University Press.