''Certhilauda'' is a
genus
Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...
of
lark
Larks are passerine birds of the family Alaudidae. Larks have a cosmopolitan distribution with the largest number of species occurring in Africa. Only a single species, the horned lark, occurs in North America, and only Horsfield's bush lark occ ...
s in the family
Alaudidae
Larks are passerine birds of the family Alaudidae. Larks have a cosmopolitan distribution with the largest number of species occurring in Africa. Only a single species, the horned lark, occurs in North America, and only Horsfield's bush lark occ ...
living in the southern regions of Africa. The genus was formerly named ''Heterocorys''.
Taxonomy
The genus ''Certhilauda'' was introduced in 1827 by the English zoologist
William Swainson
William Swainson Fellow of the Linnean Society, FLS, Fellow of the Royal Society, FRS (8 October 1789 – 6 December 1855), was an English ornithologist, Malacology, malacologist, Conchology, conchologist, entomologist and artist.
Life
Swains ...
. He specified the
type species
In International_Code_of_Zoological_Nomenclature, zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the spe ...
as "L'Alouette Sirli" of the French naturalist
François Levaillant. This is ''Alauda curvirostris'', the
Cape long-billed lark, described by the French naturalist
Johann Hermann
Johann, or Jean-Frederic, Hermann, or Herrmann, (31 December 1738 in Barr, Alsace – 4 October 1800 in Strasbourg) was a French physician and naturalist
Natural history is a domain of inquiry involving organisms, including animals, fungi ...
in 1783. The genus name is a
portmanteau
In linguistics, a blend—also known as a blend word, lexical blend, or portmanteau—is a word formed by combining the meanings, and parts of the sounds, of two or more words together. of the genera ''
Certhia'' for treecreepers and ''
Alauda'' for the larks, both of which were introduced in 1758 by
Carl Linnaeus
Carl Linnaeus (23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné,#Blunt, Blunt (2004), p. 171. was a Swedish biologist and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the modern system of naming o ...
.
Extant species
The genus contains five species:
*
Short-clawed lark (''Certhilauda chuana'')
*
Karoo long-billed lark (''Certhilauda subcoronata'')
*
Benguela long-billed lark (''Certhilauda benguelensis'')
*
Eastern long-billed lark (''Certhilauda semitorquata'')
*
Cape long-billed lark (''Certhilauda curvirostris'') (includes the Agulhas long-billed lark)
Former species
Some authorities, either presently or formerly, recognize several additional species or subspecies as belonging to the genus ''Certhilauda'', including:
*
Greater hoopoe-lark (as the bifasciated lark, ''Certhilauda desertorum'')
*
Eastern greater hoopoe-lark (as ''Certhilauda doriae'')
*
Spike-heeled lark (as ''Certhilauda albofasciata'')
*
Spike-heeled lark (kalahariae) (as ''Certhilauda kalahariae'')
*
Spike-heeled lark (garrula) (as ''Certhilauda garrula'')
*
Rufous-rumped lark (as ''Certhilauda erythropygia'')
*
Karoo lark (as ''Certhilauda albescens'')
*
Red lark (as ''Certhilauda burra'', ''Certhilauda erythroclamys'' or ''Certhilauda harei'')
*
Dune lark (as ''Certhilauda erythrochlamys'')
*
Barlow's lark (as ''Certhilauda barlowi'')
*
Somali lark (as ''Certhilauda somalica'')
References
Bird genera
Birds of Southern Africa
Taxonomy articles created by Polbot
Taxa named by William Swainson
{{Alaudidae-stub