Alaudidae

Belongs within: Sylviida.
Contains: Eremopterix, Ammomanes deserti, Mirafra, Spizocorys, Alauda, Galerida, Melanocorypha, Calandrella.

The Alaudidae, larks, are a family of insectivorous birds found primarily in the Old World; a single species, the horned lark Eremophila alpestris, is found in the Americas. Few larks are very colorful but they generally have powerful songs which they perform in flight. The wings are long and pointed, with the tenth primary much reduced. The bill is typically short but is longer in species of the genera Certhilauda, Alaemon, Rhamphocoris and Chersophilus. Certhilauda species have a long, straight claw on the hind toe.

<==Alaudidae
    |--+--EremopterixBKB15
    |  `--AmmomanesBKB15
    |       |--A. cincturaBKB15
    |       |    |--A. c. cincturaL03
    |       |    |--A. c. arenicolor (Sundevall 1851) [incl. Melanocorypha elegans Brehm 1855]L03
    |       |    |--A. c. pallens Le Roi 1912 [=A. phoenicura pallens]M-PG70
    |       |    `--A. c. zarudnyi Hartert 1902 [=A. cincturus zarudnyi]L03
    |       |--A. desertiAP21
    |       |--A. dunni (Shelley 1904) [=Calendula dunni]M-PG70
    |       `--A. phoenicuraBKB15
    |            |--A. p. phoenicuraL03
    |            `--A. p. testaceusL03
    `--+--+--+--‘Mirafra’ sabotaJT12
       |  |  |    |--M. s. sabotaM-PG70
       |  |  |    `--M. s. plebeja (Cabanis 1875) [=Alauda (Megalophoneus) plebeja]M-PG70
       |  |  `--+--‘Certhilauda’ albescensJT12
       |  |     `--+--‘Certhilauda’ barlowiJT12
       |  |        `--‘Certhilauda’ burraJT12
       |  `--+--MirafraBKB15
       |     `--+--Chersophilus dupontiBKB15
       |        `--+--+--Eremalauda dunni (Shelley 1904)BKB15, L03 [incl. Calendula dunni pallidior Hartert 1921L03]
       |           |  `--‘Calandrella’ rufescens (Vieillot 1820)BKB15, L03 [=Alauda rufescensL03]
       |           |       |--C. r. rufescens [incl. C. pispoletta canariensis Hartert 1901]L03
       |           |       |--C. r. aharonii Hartert 1910 [=C. minor aharonii]L03
       |           |       |--C. r. apetzii (Brehm 1857) [=Melanocorypha apetzii; incl. C. baetica Dresser 1873]L03
       |           |       |--C. r. nicolli Hartert 1909 [=C. minor nicolli]L03
       |           |       `--C. r. polatzeki Hartert 1904 [=C. minor polatzeki]L03
       |           `--+--Eremophila Boie 1828BKB15, M02
       |              |    |--E. alpestris (Linnaeus 1758)L03
       |              |    |    |--E. a. alpestris [incl. Phileremos glacialis Brehm 1842, P. rufescens Brehm 1855]L03
       |              |    |    |--E. a. bicornis (Brehm 1842) [=Phileremos bicornis]L03
       |              |    |    `--E. a. longirostris (Moore 1856) (see below for synonymy)L03
       |              |    `--E. bilophaBKB15
       |              `--+--SpizocorysBKB15
       |                 `--+--+--Lullula Kaup 1829BKB15, M02
       |                    |  |    `--L. arborea (Linnaeus 1758)M02 [=Alauda arboreaM02, Anthus arboreusF17]
       |                    |  `--+--AlaudaBKB15
       |                    |     `--GaleridaBKB15
       |                    `--+--MelanocoryphaBKB15
       |                       `--+--CalandrellaBKB15
       |                          `--Eremalauda starkiJT12 [=Calandrella starkiB93]
       |                               |--E. s. starkiB93
       |                               `--E. s. gregaria [incl. Calandrella hamiltoni Sclater ex Brooke 1993 (n. n.)]B93
       `--+--CalendulaudaBKB15
          |    |  i. s.: C. africanoidesAP21
          |    |         C. alopexAP21
          |    |         C. poecilosternaAP21
          |    |--C. sabotaBKB15
          |    `--+--C. albescensBKB15
          |       `--+--C. burraBKB15
          |          `--+--C. barlowiBKB15
          |             `--C. erythrochlamysBKB15
          `--+--AlaemonBKB15
             |    |--A. alaudipes (Desfontaine 1789)L03 [=Upupa alaudipesM-PG70]
             |    |    |--A. a. alaudipes [incl. Certhilauda meridionalis Brehm 1854]L03
             |    |    `--A. a. boavistae Hartert 1917L03
             |    `--A. hamertoniJT12
             `--+--Certhilauda Swainson 1827BKB15, B94 [Certhilaudidae]
                |    |  i. s.: C. erythrochlamysJT12
                |    |--C. chuanaBKB15
                |    `--+--+--C. benguelensisBKB15
                |       |  `--C. subcoronataBKB15
                |       `--+--C. semitorquataBKB15
                |          `--+--C. brevirostrisBKB15
                |             `--+--C. curvirostrisBKB15
                |                `--C. falcirostrisBKB15
                `--+--Ammomanopsis grayiBKB15 [=Ammomanes grayiJT12]
                   `--ChersomanesBKB15
                        |--C. albofasciataBKB15 [=Certhilauda albofasciataL03]
                        |    |--C. a. albofasciataL03
                        |    |--C. a. bathoeni (Winterbottom 1958) [=Certhilauda albofasciata bathoeni]B93
                        |    |--C. a. erikssoni (Hartert 1907) [=Certhilauda albofasciata erikssoni]L03
                        |    |--C. a. macdonaldi (Winterbottom 1958) [=Certhilauda albofasciata macdonaldi]B93
                        |    `--C. a. obscurata (Hartert 1907) [=Certhilauda albofasciata obscurata]L03
                        `--C. beesleyiAP21

Alaudidae incertae sedis:
  PinarocorysJT12
    |--P. erythropygia (Strickland 1852) [=Alauda erythropygia]M-PG70
    `--P. nigricans (Sundevall 1850) [=Alauda nigricans]M-PG70
  Ramphocoris clotbeyAP21
  Pseudalaemon fremantliiJT12
  HeteromirafraJT12
    |--H. archeriJT12
    |--H. ruddiJT12
    `--H. sidamoensisJT12
  Otocoris Bonaparte 1838S05
    `--O. alpestris (Linnaeus 1758) (see below for synonymy)S05
         |--O. a. alpestrisS05
         |--O. a. arcticola Oberholser 1902S05
         |--O. a. flava (Gmelin 1788) [=Alauda flava]S05
         |--O. a. hoyti Bishop 1896S05
         `--O. a. leucolaemaS05
  AlaudalaAP21
    |--A. athensisAP21
    |--A. cheleensisAP21
    |--A. raytalAP21
    |--A. rufescensAP21
    `--A. somalicaAP21
  Heliocorys modestaM-PG70
    |--H. m. modestaM-PG70
    |--H. m. nigrita Grote 1920M-PG70
    `--H. m. struempelli (Reichenow 1910) [=Mirafra struempelli; incl. H. modesta saturata]M-PG70

Eremophila alpestris longirostris (Moore 1856) [incl. E. alpestris deosai Meinertzhagen & Meinertzhagen 1926]^L03

Otocoris alpestris (Linnaeus 1758) [=Alauda alpestris, Otocorys alpestris; incl. A. cornuta Swainson & Richardson 1831]^S05

*Type species of generic name indicated

References

[AP21] Arlott, N., & B. van Perlo. 2021. Collins Birds of the World. William Collins.

[B94] Bock, W. J. 1994. History and nomenclature of avian family-group names. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 222: 1–281.

[B93] Brooke, R. K. 1993. Annotated catalogue of the Aves type specimens in the South African Museum. Annals of the South African Museum 102 (10): 327–349.

[BKB15] Burleigh, J. G., R. T. Kimball & E. L. Braun. 2015. Building the avian tree of life using a large-scale, sparse supermatrix. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 84: 53–63.

[F17] Forster, T. 1817. A synoptical catalogue of British birds; intended to identify the species mentioned by different names in several catalogues already extant. Forming a book of reference to observations on British ornithology. Nichols, Son, and Bentley: London.

[JT12] Jetz, W., G. H. Thomas, J. B. Joy, K. Hartmann & A. Ø. Mooers. 2012. The global diversity of birds in space and time. Nature 491: 444–448.

[L03] LeCroy, M. 2003. Type specimens of birds in the American Museum of Natural History. Part 5. Passeriformes: Alaudidae, Hirundinidae, Motacillidae, Campephagidae, Pycnonotidae, Irenidae, Laniidae, Vangidae, Bombycillidae, Dulidae, Cinclidae, Troglodytidae, and Mimidae. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 278: 1–156.

[M-PG70] Mackworth-Praed, C. W., & C. H. B. Grant. 1970. African Handbook of Birds ser. 3 vol. 1. Birds of West Central and Western Africa. Longman: London.

[M02] Mlíkovský, J. 2002. Cenozoic Birds of the World. Part 1: Europe. Ninox Press: Praha.

[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.