Talk:Brachistosternus ehrenbergii

Gervais

Most sources agree that he is François Louis Paul Gervais. I have no explanation for the "M." though. Quasi-grip (talk) 11:18, 22 September 2024 (UTC)

@Quasi-grip: I don't have access to the actual references relevant to this taxon page, but know that "M." is frequently used in French literature as an abbreviation of "Monsieur", i.e. equivalent to the English abbreviation "Mr." = "mister" or "sir".
–Tommy Kronkvist (talk),12:43, 22 September 2024 (UTC).

Indeed, but the reference (taken from the pdf in enwp) is:

• Gervais PM. 1841. Arachnides. In: F, Eydoux Souleyet LFA, editors. Voyage autour du monde exécuté pendant les années 1836 et 1837 sur la corvette La Bonite, commandée par M. Vaillant. Publié par ordre du roi sous les auspices du Département de la Marine. Zoologie. Apteres. Volume 1, Paris: Arthus Bertrand. p. 281–285.

It would be MP if that were the case, no? Quasi-grip (talk) 13:19, 22 September 2024 (UTC)

@Quasi-grip: You're right. More specifically, in that case I think it should be "M. Gervais, P." rather than "Gervais, PM".

Interestingly, the Wikidata item Paul Gervais (Q433721) (and its links) suggests that François Louis Paul Gervais (listed in said Wikidata item) and Paul M. Gervais (currently without unique Wikidata item) might be the same person. (Please also see the Wikispecies "Gervais" disambiguation page.)

Furthermore, there is a French agronomist named Paul Gervais (Q101094846) (1915–2005), however he doesn't seem to have done any work related to taxonomy, hence isn't listed here at Wikispecies.

–Tommy Kronkvist (talk), 09:32, 23 September 2024 (UTC).

┌───────┘ I've started a thread at the Village Pump regarding this issue here: Wikispecies:Village Pump#Two pages for one French paleontologist and entomologist named "Gervais"?. –Tommy Kronkvist (talk), 09:38, 23 September 2024 (UTC).

@Quasi-grip @Tommy Kronkvist: Voyage autour du monde etc Volume 1 from 1841 is available from Google Books here. Gervais's Arachnides contribution starts here, though his full name is not given here. However, the second page of the "Avant-Propos" (here) mentions a "M. P. Gervais" and "M. Gervais". Monster Iestyn (talk) 13:08, 23 September 2024 (UTC)

Resolved.  @Monster Iestyn and Quasi-grip: Please see the Village Pump discussion mentioned above.
–Tommy Kronkvist (talk),22:50, 23 September 2024 (UTC).

The two author pages Paul M. Gervais and François Louis Paul Gervais are now merged into the latter.
–Tommy Kronkvist (talk)‚ 10:17, 30 September 2024 (UTC).