Bactrian Camel – Camelus bactrianus

Camelus bactrianusLinnaeus, 1758

Accepted name, Mammal Species of the World 2005

Includes ferus Przewalski, based on wild specimen; bactrianus Linnaeus, 1758, has priority. Abramov (1996) showed that ferus dates from Przewalski, 1878, not 1883, and is preoccupied by Camelus dromedarius ferus Falk, 1786, which is probably a nomen oblitum. A. Gentry et al. (1996) proposed that majority usage should be confirmed by adoption of C. ferus as the name for the wild taxon of Bactrian camels. Though it has not been demonstrated that most authors term the wild Bactrian camel C. ferus rather than C. bactrianus (or C. b. ferus), they asked the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature to use its plenary powers to rule that the name for the 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), but it might still be valid for those who consider C. bactr... [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.