Mirafra
Bengal bush lark (Mirafra assamica)
in Kolkata (West Bengal, India)
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Alaudidae
Genus: Mirafra
Horsfield, 1821
Type species
Mirafra javanica[1]
Horsfield, 1821
Diversity
24 species (but see text)
     global range of genus[2]
Synonyms
  • Geocoraphus
  • Megalophonus
  • Spilocorydon

Mirafra is a genus of lark in the family Alaudidae. Some Mirafra species are called "larks", while others are called "bush larks". They are found from Africa through South Asia to Australia.

Taxonomy

The genus Mirafra was introduced in 1821 by the American naturalist Thomas Horsfield to accommodate a single species, Mirafra javanica the singing bush lark, which is therefore considered as the type species.[3][4] The derivation of the genus name is unknown.[5]

The phylogeny of larks (Alaudidae) was reviewed by Alström et al. (2013) who found that the following species form a well supported monophyletic group, which is the sister lineage to Heteromirafra.[6]

Extant species

The genus contains twenty-four species:[7]

Image Scientific name Common Name Distribution
Mirafra fasciolata Eastern clapper lark southern Africa in Zambia, Namibia, Botswana, Lesotho and South Africa.
Mirafra apiata Cape clapper lark southern Africa
Mirafra hypermetra Red-winged lark Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda
Mirafra africana Rufous-naped lark sub-Saharan Africa
Mirafra sharpii Sharpe's lark northwestern Somalia
Mirafra rufocinnamomea Flappet lark Central Africa
Mirafra angolensis Angola lark southern and central Africa
Mirafra williamsi Williams's lark northern Kenya
Mirafra passerina Monotonous lark southern Africa.
Mirafra cheniana Melodious lark South Africa (Eastern Cape, the Free State, Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo, and North West Province), Botswana and Zimbabwe
Mirafra javanica Singing bush lark Australia and much of Southeast Asia.
Mirafra microptera Burmese bush lark central Myanmar
Mirafra assamica Bengal bush lark Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar and Nepal
Mirafra erythrocephala Indochinese bush lark southeast Asia.
Mirafra erythroptera Indian bush lark Pakistan and northwestern, central and south-central India.
Mirafra affinis Jerdon's bush lark southeast India and Sri Lanka
Mirafra gilletti Gillett's lark Ethiopia, Kenya, and Somalia
Mirafra rufa Rusty bush lark Sahel region of north-central Africa.
Mirafra collaris Collared lark eastern Ethiopia and Somalia to central Kenya
Mirafra ashi Ash's lark Somalia.
Mirafra somalica Somali lark Somalia
Mirafra pulpa Friedmann's lark East Africa.
Mirafra cordofanica Kordofan lark Mauritania and Senegal to Niger, eastern Chad, southern Sudan and northern South Sudan
Mirafra albicauda White-tailed lark western Chad, eastern Sudan, northeastern South Sudan, south-central Ethiopia, and from Uganda and western Kenya to central Tanzania

Former species

Some authorities, either presently or formerly, recognize several additional species as belonging to the genus Mirafra, including:

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Mirafra.
  1. ^ "Alaudidae". aviansystematics.org. The Trust for Avian Systematics. Retrieved 2023-07-16.
  2. ^ Based on maps in the Handbook of the Birds of the World and the BirdLife Datazone
  3. ^ Horsfield, Thomas (1821). "Systematic arrangement and description of birds from the island of Java". Transactions of the Linnean Society. 13 (1): 133–200 [159].
  4. ^ Mayr, Ernst; Greenway, James C. Jr, eds. (1960). Check-List of Birds of the World. Vol. 9. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Museum of Comparative Zoology. p. 3.
  5. ^ Jobling, James A. (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. p. 256. ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4.
  6. ^ Alström, Per; Barnes, Keith N.; Olsson, Urban; Barker, F. Keith; Bloomer, Paulette; Khan, Aleem Ahmed; Qureshi, Masood Ahmed; Guillaumet, Alban; Crochet, Pierre-Andre; Ryan, Peter G. (2013). "Multilocus phylogeny of the avian family Alaudidae (larks) reveals complex morphological evolution, non-monophyletic genera and hidden species diversity" (PDF). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 69 (3): 1043–1056. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2013.06.005. PMID 23792153.
  7. ^ Gill, Frank; Donsker, David, eds. (2018). "Nicators, reedling, larks". World Bird List Version 8.2. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 15 July 2018.
  8. ^ "Certhilauda chuana - Avibase". avibase.bsc-eoc.org. Retrieved 2016-11-11.
  9. ^ "Pinarocorys nigricans - Avibase". avibase.bsc-eoc.org. Retrieved 2016-11-11.
  10. ^ "Pinarocorys erythropygia - Avibase". avibase.bsc-eoc.org. Retrieved 2016-11-11.
  11. ^ "Ammomanes deserti phoenicuroides - Avibase". avibase.bsc-eoc.org. Retrieved 2016-12-16.
  12. ^ "Ammomanes phoenicura - Avibase". avibase.bsc-eoc.org. Retrieved 2016-12-17.
  13. ^ "Eremopterix hova - Avibase". avibase.bsc-eoc.org. Retrieved 2016-11-14.
  14. ^ "Calendulauda sabota - Avibase". avibase.bsc-eoc.org. Retrieved 2016-11-17.
  15. ^ "Calendulauda naevia - Avibase". avibase.bsc-eoc.org. Retrieved 2016-11-17.
  16. ^ "Calendulauda poecilosterna - Avibase". avibase.bsc-eoc.org. Retrieved 2016-11-17.
  17. ^ "Calendulauda alopex - Avibase". avibase.bsc-eoc.org. Retrieved 2016-11-17.
  18. ^ "Calendulauda intercedens - Avibase". avibase.bsc-eoc.org. Retrieved 2016-11-17.
  19. ^ "Calendulauda africanoides - Avibase". avibase.bsc-eoc.org. Retrieved 2016-11-17.
  20. ^ "Calendulauda albescens - Avibase". avibase.bsc-eoc.org. Retrieved 2016-11-18.
  21. ^ "Calendulauda burra - Avibase". avibase.bsc-eoc.org. Retrieved 2016-11-19.
  22. ^ "Calendulauda erythrochlamys - Avibase". avibase.bsc-eoc.org. Retrieved 2016-11-19.
  23. ^ "Calendulauda barlowi - Avibase". avibase.bsc-eoc.org. Retrieved 2016-11-19.
  24. ^ "Heteromirafra ruddi - Avibase". avibase.bsc-eoc.org. Retrieved 2016-11-21.
  25. ^ "Heteromirafra archeri - Avibase". avibase.bsc-eoc.org. Retrieved 2016-11-21.
  26. ^ "Heteromirafra sidamoensis - Avibase". avibase.bsc-eoc.org. Retrieved 2016-11-21.
  27. ^ "Galerida modesta struempelli - Avibase". avibase.bsc-eoc.org. Retrieved 2016-12-06.
  28. ^ "Galerida modesta bucolica - Avibase". avibase.bsc-eoc.org. Retrieved 2016-12-06.


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