''Corypha'' 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 ...

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 ...

. These species were formerly placed in the genus ''

Mirafra ''Mirafra'' is a genus of lark in the family Alaudidae. Some ''Mirafra'' species are called "larks", while others are called "bush larks". They are all found in Africa except for the singing bush lark that is found through South Asia to Australi ...

''. They are widely distributed in open savannah-type habitats across sub-Saharan Africa.

Taxonomy

A 2023

molecular phylogenetic Molecular phylogenetics () is the branch of phylogeny that analyzes genetic, hereditary molecular differences, predominantly in DNA sequences, to gain information on an organism's evolutionary relationships. From these analyses, it is possible to ...

study of the lark family

by the Swedish ornithologist

Per Alström ''Per'' Johan Alström (born 9 April 1961) is a Swedish Professor of ornithology. He does research in Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy, systematics, and evolution, with birds in Asia as a specialty. Alström works at the Department of Ecology and Genet ...

and his collaborators found that the genus ''

'' contained deep internal genetic divergences. They therefore split ''Mirafra'' into four genera, each corresponding to a major clade. For one of these clades they resurrected the genus ''Corypha'' that had originally been introduced in 1840 by the English zoologist George Gray with ''Alauda apiata''

Vieillot Louis Pierre Vieillot (10 May 1748, Yvetot – 24 August 1830, Sotteville-lès-Rouen) was a French ornithologist. Vieillot is the author of the first scientific descriptions and Linnaean names of a number of birds, including species he collecte ...

, 1816, the Cape clapper lark, as 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 ...

. The name ''Corypha'' is from

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...

κορυφος/''koruphos'', an unknown bird mentioned by the Greek author

Hesychius of Alexandria Hesychius of Alexandria () was a Greek grammarian who, probably in the 5th or 6th century AD, compiled the richest lexicon of unusual and obscure Greek words that has survived, probably by absorbing the works of earlier lexicographers. The ...

that is usually assumed to be a lark. A comprehensive integrated study of the genus, published in 2024, combined analyses of the plumage, morphology, vocalization and phylogenetics. This led to a substantial revision of the specific boundaries and an increase in the number of recognised species. The phylogeny shown below is based on the 2024 study by

and collaborators. The genus contains 11 species: * Cape clapper lark, ''Corypha apiata'' * Eastern clapper lark, ''Corypha fasciolata'' (split from ''C. apiata'') * Kidepo lark, ''Corypha kidepoensis'' (split from ''C. hypermetra'') * Red-winged lark, ''Corypha hypermetra'' * Highland lark, ''Corypha kurrae'' (split from ''C. africana'') *

Rufous-naped lark The rufous-naped lark (''Corypha africana'') or rufous-naped bush lark is a widespread and conspicuous species of Alaudidae, lark in the lightly wooded grasslands, open savannas and farmlands of the Afrotropical realm, Afrotropics. Males attract ...

, ''Corypha africana'' * Sentinel lark, ''Corypha athi'' (split from ''C. africana'') * Plains lark, ''Corypha kabalii'' (split from ''C. africana'') * Plateau lark, ''Corypha nigrescens'' (split from ''C. africana'') * Russet lark, ''Corypha sharpii'' (split from ''C. africana'') * Somali lark, ''Corypha somalica''

References

Bird genera Birds of Africa {{Alaudidae-stub