Description of the type-series of Palaeocryptonyx donnezani Depéret, 1892 (Aves: Phasianidae) with the selection of a lectotype

We have re-examined the original type-series of Palaeocryptonyx donnezani Depéret, 1892 housed in the Laboratoire de Géologie de Lyon, Université Claude-Bernard Lyon 1 (France), and have selected a lectotype and paralectotypes. P. donnezani is the type species of the extinct genus Palaeocryptonyx, known from six species from different European Neogene and Pleistocene fossil localities. The species have been compared with different medium-sized Phasianidae species on the basis of our own study and data from the literature. The systematic position of P. donnezani has been questioned, because it has been misplaced in the extant genera Alectoris and Coturnix, but our analysis confirms its validity and its attribution to a separate genus; hence we also confirm the validity of the genus Palaeocryptonyx.