Taxonomy Profile: Ochotona roylii himalayana (Feng 1973)

Ogilby (1839: lxix) spelled the name 'Roylii' repeatedly and consistently, and dedicated it to 'Dr. Royle' repeatedly and consistently, too. It is evident that he Latinized the surname to Roylius (optionally eliding the connecting e), and when the -us is replaced by -i the result is the epithet roylii. Since the late 1800s, some have spelled it 'roylei' (which would have also been a legitimate way to spell the epithet originally, as would 'royleii'), but there is no justification under the Code (see ICZN 1999, Art. 31.1) for emending roylii to 'roylei' (see Arts. 32.5, 33.2)