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Jack snipe

species of bird

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Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionOct 4, 2025
Entity authorityQ26711
Source-derived summary

The jack snipe or jacksnipe (Lymnocryptes minimus) is a small stocky wader. It is the smallest snipe, and the only member of the genus Lymnocryptes. Features such as its sternum and its continuous 'bobbing up and down' make it quite distinct from other snipes or woodcocks.

Taxonomy

The jack snipe was formally described in 1764 by the Danish zoologist Morten Thrane Brünnich under the binomial name Scolopax minima. He specified the type locality as the Danish island of Christiansø. Brünnich based his account on "La petite béccassine" that had been described and illustrated in 1760 by the French zoologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson. The jack snipe is now the only species placed in the genus Lymnocryptes that was introduced in 1826 by the German zoologist Friedrich Boie. The species is considered to be monotypic: no subspecies are recognised. The genus name Lymnocryptes is from Ancient Greek limne, "marsh" and kruptos, "hidden". The species name minimus is from Latin and means "smallest".

Editorial summary

“Jack snipe” enters the record as species of bird. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Jack, snipe and species can confirm, complicate or overturn.

Editorial reviewA sound reference starting point where classification, measurement and the date of the underlying evidence remain visible. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1764, 1760, 1826—that can be checked directly. The selected authority fields contribute no independent date. Its strongest next move is a source search built around Jack, snipe and species.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

“Jack snipe” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Jack, snipe and species provides the most credible route into that argument.

Evidence profile

Stable identifiers, scientific names and standards terminology offer the best bridge between this overview and specialist evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Oct 4, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q26711. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1764, 1760 and 1826.

Critical limits

Current terminology should not be projected backward without checking the classification used when the underlying evidence was created. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

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  2. Expand the search: follow Jack snipe primary sources, Jack snipe archive and Jack research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from Jack snipe” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.