On the diagnosis of the Spinner Dolphin, Stenella longirostris (Gray, 1828) and its holotype

In 1828 (p. 1-2), John Edward Gray described the spinner dolphin as follows: Delphinus longirostris, n. - Osse palatino carinato, postice convexo; rostro longissimo attenuata, supra depresso, lineâ mediâ elevatâ; dentibus parvis utrique 48/è48 50/50 ." To this Latin diagnosis he added: "Inhab....... Cranium in Mus. D. Brookes. The beak is more slender and depressed than that of D. delphis; the palate bone more strongly keeled; and the elevated central process of the upper surface of the beak broad and convex. Length of the head 6 inches; beak 11 1/2. Breadth of the latter at its base 3 inches." From the description it is evident that the skull on which the diagnosis was based formed part of the private museum of D. Brookes in London. In the same year in which Gray's publication appeared in print, the Brookes collection was sold. From the annual report of the Rijksmuseum van Natuurlijke Historie at Leiden, dated 10-III-1829 and written by its first director, Dr. C. J. Temminck, it becomes clear that the Leiden museum bought a large part of the Brookes collection (see: Gijzen, 1938: 162). The transfer of the skull on which Gray's description was based from the Brookes collection to the Leiden Museum was also recorded by Schlegel (1841: 19). He wrote: "Diese Art wurde von Gray, Spic. Zool. p. 1, nach einem Schädel aufgestellt, der aus der Sammlung des Doctor Brookes in die Unsrige übergangen und auf Taf. 1, 2 u 3, Fig. 4 abgebildet ist." For the figures published by Schlegel, see fig. 1 of this paper. The acquisition of Gray's Delphinus longirostris skull by the Leiden Museum is also mentioned by Flower (1883: 492, 504) and by Jentink (1887: 173) in his catalogue of osteological material in the Leiden Museum. According to Gray (1828: 2) the total length of the skull was 17-1/2