Belongs within: Charadriiformes.
Contains: Charadrius, Vanellus.
The Charadriidae, plovers, are a group of relatively plump shorebirds with bills that are shorter than their heads and slightly swollen at the tip. Charadriids have historically been divided between the typical plovers of the Charadriinae and the generally larger, more inland-dwelling lapwings of the Vanellinae. However, recent phylogenetic analyses do not support monophyly of the Charadriinae (or indeed of the genus Charadrius). Instead, the lapwings are placed as sister to a clade including a number of species usually included within Charadrius, together with the red-kneed dotterel Erythrogonys cinctus of Australasia and the wrybill Anarhynchus frontalis of New Zealand. The latter is notable as the only bird species with its bill curved to one side (the right). The inland dotterel Peltohyas australis is a buff-coloured plover with a distinctive y-shaped black breast band, found in arid habitats in Australia.
The tawny-throated dotterel Oreopholus ruficollis, a fairly upright plover with a reddish throat and a black-streaked back which breeds in uplands of South America, may represent the sister taxon to all other living charadriids. The diademed sandpiper-plover Phegornis mitchellii is another montane South American species with a relatively long bill, and a black head bearing a white band above the eyes in the male. The rufous-chested plover ‘Charadrius’ modestus, a grey-headed species with a rufous breast, is found in the southern part of South America (Arlott & van Perlo 2021).
<==Charadriidae [Charadriadae]
| i. s.: Dolichopterus Milne-Edwards 1868FP64, M02 [=Dolicopterus Aymard 1856 (n. n.)M02]
| `--*D. viator Nilne-Edwards 1868 [=Dolicopterus viator Aymard 1856 (n. n.)]M02
| Oxyechus vociferusS18
| Jiliniornis huadianensis Hou & Ericson 2002M09
| Aegialeus Reichenb. 1852S05
| Hoploxypterus Bonaparte 1856 [Hoploxypterinae]B94
| `--H. cyanusAP21
|--Oreopholus ruficollisBKB15
`--+--+--+--Phegornis mitchelliiBKB15
| | `--‘Charadrius’ modestusBKB15
| `--+--Eudromias Brehm 1831JT12, S05
| | |--E. australisN87
| | `--E. morinellus (Linnaeus 1758)M02 (see below for synonymy)
| `--+--‘Charadrius’ dubiusBKB15
| | |--C. d. dubiusPB96
| | `--C. d. curonicus Gmelin 1789PB96
| `--+--CharadriusBKB15
| `--+--Thinornis Gray 1845BKB15, CC10
| | `--T. novaeseelandiae (Gmelin 1789) (see below for synonymy)CC10
| `--+--‘Thinornis’ cucullatusBKB15
| |--‘Thinornis’ rubricollis (Gmelin 1789)JT12, PB96 [=Charadrius rubricollisM03]
| `--Elseyornis Mathews 1914BKB15, CC10 [=Elseya Mathews 1913 non Gray 1867CC10]
| `--*E. melanops (Vieillot 1818) (see below for synonymy)CC10
`--+--VanellinaeRN72
| |--VanellusBKB15
| |--Chettusia gregariaRN72
| |--Zonifer tricolor (Vieillot 1818)RN72, WS48 (see below for synonymy)
| `--Belonopterus chilensisRN72
| |--B. c. chilensisRN72
| `--B. c. cayennensisRN72
`--+--Erythrogonys Gould 1838BKB15, CC10
| `--*E. cinctus Gould 1838CC10 [incl. E. cinctus mixtus Mathews 1912WS48]
`--+--Peltohyas Sharpe 1896BKB15, B94 [Peltohyatinae]
| `--P. australis (Gould 1841)WS48, PB96 [=Eudromius australisWS48, Charadrius australisWS48]
| |--P. a. australisWS48
| `--P. a. whitlocki (Mathews 1912) [=Charadrius australis whitlocki]WS48
`--+--+--Ochthodromus Reichenbach 1852CC10
| | `--*O. wilsoniaCC10 [=Charadrius wilsoniaBKB15]
| `--+--‘Charadrius’ veredus Gould 1848BKB15, CC10 (see below for synonymy)
| `--+--Pagoa Mathews 1913CC10
| | `--P. leschenaultii (Lesson in Levrault 1826)CC10 (see below for synonymy)
| `--Cirrepidesmus Bonaparte 1856CC10
| `--C. mongolus (Pallas 1776)CC10 [=Charadrius mongolusBKB15]
| |--C. m. mongolusCC10
| |--‘Charadrius’ m. atrifrons (see below for synonymy)CC10
| |--‘Charadrius’ m. pamirensis Richmond 1896CC10
| |--‘Charadrius’ m. schaeferi de Schaunesee 1938CC10
| `--‘Charadrius’ m. stegmanni Portenko 1939CC10
`--+--Anarhynchus Quoy & Gaimard 1830BKB15, CC10 [Anarhynchinae]
| `--*A. frontalis Quoy & Gaimard 1830 (see below for synonymy)CC10
`--+--+--‘Charadrius’ collaris Vieillot 1818BKB15, ME04 [=Aegialitis collarisSS66]
| `--+--‘Charadrius’ alticolaBKB15
| `--‘Charadrius’ falklandicusBKB15
`--+--‘Charadrius’ montanusBKB15
`--+--+--‘Charadrius’ ruficapillus Temminck 1821BKB15, CC10 (see below for synonymy)
| `--Nesoceryx Mathews 1920CC10
| `--*N. bicinctus (Jardine & Selby 1827)CC10 (see below for synonymy)
| |--N. b. bicinctus (see below for synonymy)CC10
| `--‘Charadrius’ b. exilis Falla 1978CC10
`--+--‘Charadrius’ alexandrinus Linnaeus 1758BKB15, WS48
| |--C. a. alexandrinusM03
| `--C. a. dealbatusM03
`--Leucopolius Bonaparte 1856CC10
`--*L. marginatusCC10 [=Charadrius marginatusBKB15]
*Anarhynchus frontalis Quoy & Gaimard 1830 [=Charadrius frontalis, Haematopus frontalis, Thinornis frontalis; incl. Anarhynchus albifrons Schlegel 1857]CC10
‘Charadrius’ mongolus atrifrons [incl. Ch. cirrhepidesmus, *Cirrepidesmus cirrhepidesmus]CC10
‘Charadrius’ ruficapillus Temminck 1821BKB15, CC10 [=Aegialitis ruficapillaCC10, Aegiatilis (l. c.) ruficapillaCC10, Charadrius alexandrinus ruficapillusCC10, Leucopolius ruficapillusCC10; incl. C. ruficapillus tormenti Mathews 1912WS48, L. ruficapillus tormentiCC10]
‘Charadrius’ veredus Gould 1848BKB15, CC10 [=C. asiaticus veredusCC10, Eupoda asiatica veredaWS48, Eupodella veredaCC10]
*Elseyornis melanops (Vieillot 1818) [=Charadrius melanops; incl. C. melanops marngli Mathews 1912, C. nigrifrons Temminck & Laugier 1821, C. russatus Jerdon 1840, Elseyornis melanops russatus]CC10
Eudromias morinellus (Linnaeus 1758)M02 [=Charadrius morinellusBKB15, C. morinellaF17; incl. Eudromias sibiricus Heuglin 1874S05]
*Nesoceryx bicinctus (Jardine & Selby 1827)CC10 [=Aegialitis bicinctaCC10, Charadrius bicinctusJT12, Cirrepidesmus bicinctusCC10, Hiaticula bicinctaCC10, Ochthodromus bicinctusCC10, Octhodromus (l. c.) bicinctusCC10]
*Nesoceryx bicinctus bicinctus (Jardine & Selby 1827) [incl. C. bicinctus incertus Mathews 1912, Nesoceryx bicinctus incertus]CC10
Pagoa leschenaultii (Lesson in Levrault 1826)CC10 [=Charadrius leschenaultiiBKB15; incl. C. geoffroyiCC10, *Pagoa geoffroyiCC10, P. zanda Mathews 1916WS48]
Thinornis novaeseelandiae (Gmelin 1789) [=Charadrius novaeseelandiae, Hiaticula novaeseelandiae, Thinornis novaezealandiae, T. novaezelandiae; incl. Charadrius atricinctus Ellman 1861, C. dudoroa Wagler 1827, *Thinornis rossii Gray 1845, C. torquatula Forster in Wagler 1829]CC10
Zonifer tricolor (Vieillot 1818)RN72, WS48 [=Charadrius tricolorWS48; incl. Z. tricolor gwendolenae Mathews 1912WS48]
*Type species of generic name indicated
References
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[RN72] Rutgers, A., & K. A. Norris (eds) 1972. Encyclopaedia of Aviculture vol. 1. London, Blandford Press.
[S05] Schalow, H. 1905. Die Vögel der Arktis. In: Römer, F., & F. Schaudinn (eds) Fauna Arctica. Eine Zusammenstellun der arktischen Tierformen, mit besonder Berücksichtigung des Spitzbergen-Gebietes auf Grund der Ergebnisse der Deutschen Expedition in das Nördliche Eismeer im Jahre 1898 vol. 4 pp. 79–288. Gustav Fischer: Jena.
[SS66] Sclater, P. L., & O. Salvin. 1866. Catalogue of birds collected by Mr. E. Bartlett on the River Uyacali, Eastern Peru, with notes and descriptions of new species. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 1866: 175–201.
[S18] Stone, W. 1918. Birds of the Panama Canal Zone, with special reference to a collection made by Mr. Lindsey L. Jewel. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia 70: 239–280.
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