Yellow-tufted Honeyeater Lichenostomus melanops was described under four different English names and three Latin binomials by Latham (1801a,b, 1822). Until now, these names were usually thought to be based solely on four watercolours produced during the early years of settlement in Australia, one of which was established by Sharpe (1906) as the 'type' of Latham's 'Black-eyed Thrush' and 'Turdus melanops', the original binomial of Lichenostomus melanops. We review the history of the watercolours copied by Latham, and the complicated nomenclature of L. melanops. The first watercolour of L. melanops that Latham inscribed 'Turdus melanops' was included in a different set of watercolours to the 'Watling' set reviewed by Sharpe (1906). A specimen of L. melanops >200 years old in the Paris museum acquired from Joseph Banks was also compared to the original descriptions. Conditions simulating those under which Latham may have examined the specimen or another could possibly explain the anomalous rusty-brown coloration Latham ascribed to his 'Black-eyed Thrush', rather than the olive-green typical of L. melanops.
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