台灣刺鼠Niviventer coninga（Swinhoe, 1864）種小名的演變回顧

A Review of Changing on the Scientific Name of the Spiny Rat Niviventer coninga (Swinhoe, 1864)

刺鼠Niviventer Coninga（Swinhoe, 1864）為台灣特有種的鼠類，其新種發表時命名為Mus coninga，爾後種小名曾更改為coxinga及coxingi。但從1870年到1990年沒有人使用coninga名稱，而coxinga及coxingi則分別見於後續發表的一些研究論文中。Corbet and Hill初次認為Niviventer coninga應仍是刺鼠的有效種小名，但並未說明依據之命名法規條文。根據國際動物命名規約條文32.5必須改正的拼法，即針對不正確之原拼法、條文規定不正確的音譯或拉丁化，或者使用一不正當的連接母音，均不被認作疏忽性錯誤（inadvertente error），故應該接受該拼法為合法有效，即最初發表的coninga名稱沒有明顯證據是「inadvertent error」（疏忽性錯誤）。另依條文23.9.1普遍（慣用）用法規定，並非自1899年起沒有再用過coninga。因此刺鼠正式學名應依Corbet tand Hill於1991年之提議，維持Niviventer coninga。為了國內使用本種學名之正確性，特撰此文供參考。 The spiny rat Niviventer Coninga (Swinhoe, 1864) is an endemic rodent to Taiwan. It was originally described as mus coninga by Swinhoe in 1864. Since then the names coxinga and coxingi have been also used, causing confusion in the nomenclature of this rodent. A review of the literature showed that the original name coninga was used prior to 1870. Since then coxingi was no longer used and replaced by coxinga or coxingi until 1990. In 1992 Corbet and Hill verified the scientific name of the rodent as Niviventer Coninga (Swinhoe, 1864), according to Code 32.5 and Code 23.9.1 of the 4th edition of International Code of Zoological Nomenclature. The former code states that spelling variation based on transliteration are not errors justifying a change in name, and the latter code states that if the original name was used since 1899, the original name should stand. Nevertheless, since 1992 both coxinga and coxingi have been still used, particularly in Taiwan. It is recommended Niviventer Coninga (Swinhoe, 1864) to be used as the valid scientific name of the spiny rat of Taiwan.