''Vanellus'' is the genus of

wader 245px, A flock of Red_knot.html" ;"title="Dunlins and Red knot">Dunlins and Red knots Waders or shorebirds are birds of the order Charadriiformes commonly found wikt:wade#Etymology 1, wading along shorelines and mudflats in order to foraging, ...

s which provisionally contains all

lapwing Lapwings (subfamily Vanellinae) are any of various ground-nesting birds (Family (biology), family Charadriidae) akin to plovers and dotterels. They range from in length, and are noted for their slow, irregular wingbeats in flight and a shrill, ...

s except

red-kneed dotterel The red-kneed dotterel (''Erythrogonys cinctus'') is a species of plover in a monotypic genus in the subfamily Vanellinae. It is often gregarious and will associate with other waders of its own and different species, even when nesting. It is ...

, ''Erythrogonys cinctus''. The name "''vanellus''" is Latin for "little fan", ''vanellus'' being the

diminutive A diminutive is a word obtained by modifying a root word to convey a slighter degree of its root meaning, either to convey the smallness of the object or quality named, or to convey a sense of intimacy or endearment, and sometimes to belittle s ...

of ''vannus'' (" winnowing fan"). The name is in reference to the sound lapwings' wings make in flight.

Description

These long-legged

s mostly have strongly patterned plumage. Although the most familiar Eurasian lapwing, ''Vanellus vanellus'' (

northern lapwing The northern lapwing (''Vanellus vanellus''), also known as the peewit or pewit, tuit or tewit, green plover, or (in Ireland and Great Britain) pyewipe or just lapwing, is a bird in the lapwing subfamily. It is common through temperate Palearcti ...

), has a wispy crest, only two other species do so. Red or yellow facial wattles are a more typical decoration. Only northern, sociable, white-tailed, grey-headed and brown-chested lapwings are truly migratory species. The Andean lapwing moves downhill in winter. Spur-winged, blacksmith, river, southern, Andean and pied lapwings are boldly patterned, red-eyed species with a spurred carpal (wrist) joint. Many species have wattles which can be small (black-headed, spot-breasted, red-wattled and banded lapwings) or large (white-crowned, African wattled, yellow-wattled, Javan, and masked lapwings). The latter species are the largest of the plover family, since several exceed .

Systematics

The genus ''Vanellus'' was erected by the French zoologist

Mathurin Jacques Brisson Mathurin Jacques Brisson (; 30 April 1723 – 23 June 1806) was a French zoologist and natural philosophy, natural philosopher. Brisson was born on 30 April 1723 at Fontenay-le-Comte in the Vendée department of western France. Note that page 14 ...

in 1760. The name was derived by

tautonymy A tautonym is a scientific name of a species in which both parts of the name have the same spelling, such as ''Rattus rattus''. The first part of the name is the name of the genus and the second part is referred to as the ''specific epithet'' in ...

from the original

binomial name In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, both of which use Latin grammatical forms, altho ...

of the

''Tringa vanellus'' introduced by

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 ...

in 1758. ''Vanellus'' is the

Medieval Latin Medieval Latin was the form of Literary Latin used in Roman Catholic Church, Roman Catholic Western Europe during the Middle Ages. It was also the administrative language in the former Western Roman Empire, Roman Provinces of Mauretania, Numidi ...

for a "lapwing". It is a diminutive of the Latin ''vanus'' meaning "winnowing" or "fan". The systematics of ''Vanellus'' have hitherto resisted clear resolution. Essentially, no major revision can be brought to agree with another, and up to 19

genera Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family as used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In binomial nomenclature, the genus name forms the first part of the binomial s ...

were at one time recognized for the 24 lapwing

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

. While it might be desirable to split up this large and diverse genus a bit, the morphological characters are a confusing mix of

apomorph In phylogenetics, an apomorphy (or derived trait) is a novel character or character state that has evolved from its ancestral form (or plesiomorphy). A synapomorphy is an apomorphy shared by two or more taxa and is therefore hypothesized to ha ...

ic and

plesiomorph In phylogenetics, a plesiomorphy ("near form") and symplesiomorphy are synonyms for an ancestral Phenotypic trait, character shared by all members of a clade, which does not distinguish the clade from other clades. Plesiomorphy, symplesiomorph ...

ic traits in any one species, with few relationships readily apparent. Molecular data has been found to provide even less sufficient resolution, though the lapwings have not yet been as thoroughly studied under this aspect as other

Charadriiformes Charadriiformes (, from '' Charadrius'', the type genus of family Charadriidae) is a diverse order of small to medium-large birds. It includes about 390 species and has members in all parts of the world. Most charadriiform birds live near water ...

.Piersma & Wiersma (1996), Thomas ''et al.'' (2004) The only thing that can be said with a fair degree of certainty is that according to the

DNA sequence A nucleic acid sequence is a succession of bases within the nucleotides forming alleles within a DNA (using GACT) or RNA (GACU) molecule. This succession is denoted by a series of a set of five different letters that indicate the order of the nu ...

data one group of 5 species seems to stand out. These are wattle-less lapwings which were separated as ''Anitibyx'', ''Belonopterus'', ''Hoplopterus'' (in the narrow sense) and ''Ptiloscelys''. They are visually very dissimilar, but it is notable that their distribution forms a clean band through the

tropical The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the equator, where the sun may shine directly overhead. This contrasts with the temperate or polar regions of Earth, where the Sun can never be directly overhead. This is because of Earth's ax ...

regions of the world except

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

; they might conceivably form a

clade In biology, a clade (), also known as a Monophyly, monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that is composed of a common ancestor and all of its descendants. Clades are the fundamental unit of cladistics, a modern approach t ...

. The only species among them that is migratory is the

Andean lapwing The Andean lapwing (''Vanellus resplendens'') is a species of bird in family Charadriidae, the plovers and their relatives. It is found in Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. Taxonomy and systematics The Andean lapwing wa ...

(''V. resplendens''), which as noted above cannot be allied with the truly migratory lapwings on these grounds. However, if these were to be split off, for one thing it is almost certain that other lineages would also require separation; the new genus' name would probably be ''Hoplopterus'', which is the longest- and most widely used alternative lapwing genus.

List of species in taxonomic order

Northern lapwing The northern lapwing (''Vanellus vanellus''), also known as the peewit or pewit, tuit or tewit, green plover, or (in Ireland and Great Britain) pyewipe or just lapwing, is a bird in the lapwing subfamily. It is common through temperate Palearcti ...

, also known as green plover and as peewit, ''Vanellus vanellus'' Alternatively placed in ''Hemiparra'': * Long-toed lapwing, ''Vanellus crassirostris'' Alternatively placed in ''Anitibyx'': * Blacksmith lapwing or blacksmith plover, ''Vanellus armatus'' Alternatively placed in ''Hoplopterus'': * Spur-winged lapwing or "spur-winged plover", ''Vanellus spinosus'' * River lapwing or "spur-winged lapwing", ''Vanellus duvaucelii'' Alternatively placed in ''Sarciophorus'', ''Lobivanellus'' or ''Hoplopterus'': * Black-headed lapwing or black-headed plover, ''Vanellus tectus'' Alternatively placed in ''Lobipluvia'' or ''Hoplopterus'': * Yellow-wattled lapwing, ''Vanellus malabaricus'' Alternatively placed in ''Xiphidiopterus'' or ''Hoplopterus'': * White-crowned lapwing, white-headed lapwing, white-crowned plover or white-headed plover, ''Vanellus albiceps'' Alternatively placed in ''Stephanibyx'' or ''Hoplopterus'': * Senegal lapwing or lesser black-winged lapwing, ''Vanellus lugubris'' * Black-winged lapwing or greater black-winged lapwing, ''Vanellus melanopterus'' * Crowned lapwing or crowned plover, ''Vanellus coronatus'' Alternatively placed in ''Afribyx'': * African wattled lapwing or wattled lapwing, ''Vanellus senegallus'' Alternatively placed in ''Tylibyx'', ''Lobivanellus'' or ''Hoplopterus'': * Spot-breasted lapwing, ''Vanellus melanocephalus'' Alternatively placed in ''Anomalophrys'': * Brown-chested lapwing, ''Vanellus superciliosus'' Alternatively placed in ''Microsarcops'' or ''Hoplopterus'': * Grey-headed lapwing, ''Vanellus cinereus'' Alternatively placed in ''Lobivanellus'' or ''Hoplopterus'': * Red-wattled lapwing, ''Vanellus indicus'' Alternatively placed in ''Rogibyx'': * Javan lapwing, Javanese lapwing, or Javanese wattled lapwing, ''Vanellus macropterus'' Alternatively placed in ''Zonifer'', ''Lobivanellus'' or ''Hoplopterus'': *

Banded lapwing The banded lapwing (''Vanellus tricolor'') is a small to medium-sized shorebird, found in small parties or large flocks on bare ground in open grasslands, agricultural land and open savannah. It is native to Australia and in the past considered ...

, ''Vanellus tricolor'' Alternatively placed in ''Lobibyx'', ''Lobivanellus'' or ''Hoplopterus'': *

Masked lapwing The masked lapwing (''Vanellus miles'') is a large, common and conspicuous bird native to Australia (particularly the northern and eastern parts of the continent), New Zealand and New Guinea. It spends most of its time on the ground searching for ...

or "spur-winged plover", ''Vanellus miles'' Alternatively placed in ''Chettusia'': * Sociable lapwing or sociable plover, ''Vanellus gregarius'' Alternatively placed in ''Vanellochettusia'' or ''Chettusia'': * White-tailed lapwing or white-tailed plover, ''Vanellus leucurus'' Alternatively placed in ''Hoploxypterus'': * Pied lapwing, ''Vanellus cayanus'' Alternatively placed in ''Belonopterus'': *

Southern lapwing The southern lapwing (''Vanellus chilensis''), commonly called quero-quero in Brazil, or tero in Argentina and Uruguay, tero-tero in Paraguay, and queltehue in Chile is a wader in the order Charadriiformes. It is a common and widespread resident ...

, ''Vanellus chilensis'' Alternatively placed in ''Ptiloscelys'' or ''Belonopterus'': *

, ''Vanellus resplendens''

Prehistoric species

Species known only from

fossil A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserve ...

subfossil A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved ...

remains include: * †'' Vanellus madagascariensis'' (14th century Madagascar) * †''Vanellus liffyae'' (Late Pliocene of central Australia) * †''Vanellus lilloi'' (Middle/Late Pleistocene of Centinela del Mar, Argentina) * †''Vanellus downsi'' (Late Pleistocene of Rancho La Brea, USA) * †''Vanellus edmundi'' (Late Pleistocene of Talalra, Peru) The last three of these seem to be very closely related to the

southern lapwing The southern lapwing (''Vanellus chilensis''), commonly called quero-quero in Brazil, or tero in Argentina and Uruguay, tero-tero in Paraguay, and queltehue in Chile is a wader in the order Charadriiformes. It is a common and widespread resident ...

and all were placed in ''Belonopterus'' by the describing authors. If '' Viator picis'', also from the

Late Pleistocene The Late Pleistocene is an unofficial Age (geology), age in the international geologic timescale in chronostratigraphy, also known as the Upper Pleistocene from a Stratigraphy, stratigraphic perspective. It is intended to be the fourth division ...

Talara Talara is a city in the Talara Province of the Piura Region, in northwestern Peru. It is a port city on the Pacific Ocean with a population of 91,444 as of 2017. Its climate is hot and dry. Due to its oil reserves, and ability to produce aviati ...

, does not belong to an entirely

extinct Extinction is the termination of an organism by the death of its Endling, last member. A taxon may become Functional extinction, functionally extinct before the death of its last member if it loses the capacity to Reproduction, reproduce and ...

lineage, it might belong to that group too; it seems too large to be closely related to the smallish pied lapwing. Neither the

Early Oligocene The Rupelian is, in the geologic timescale, the older of two age (geology), ages or the lower of two stage (stratigraphy), stages of the Oligocene epoch (geology), Epoch/series (stratigraphy), Series. It spans the time between . It is preceded b ...

'' Dolicopterus'' from Ronzon, France nor the supposed mid-

Oligocene The Oligocene ( ) is a geologic epoch (geology), epoch of the Paleogene Geologic time scale, Period that extends from about 33.9 million to 23 million years before the present ( to ). As with other older geologic periods, the rock beds that defin ...

lapwing ''"Vanellus" selysii'' of

Rupelmonde Rupelmonde is a village in the municipality of Kruibeke, in the Belgian province of East Flanders. It is located on the banks of the river Schelde opposite the confluence with the eponymous Rupel, and is known for its sundials as well as havin ...

(

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

) unquestionably belong here. While their age suggests that they may indeed represent some ancient lapwings, the fossil remains have not been studied for many decades and a review is seriously overdue.Mlíkovský (2002)

References

Sources

* Campbell, Kenneth E. Jr. (2002): A new species of Late Pleistocene lapwing from Rancho La Brea, California nglish with Spanish abstract ''

Condor Condor is the common name for two species of New World vultures, each in a monotypic genus. The name derives from the Quechua language, Quechua ''kuntur''. They are the largest flying land birds in the Western Hemisphere. One species, the And ...

'' 104: 170–174.
HTML abstract and first page image
* Mlíkovský, Jirí (2002): ''Cenozoic Birds of the World, Part 1: Europe''. Ninox Press, Prague.
PDF fulltext
!-- This should be treated with extreme caution as regards merging of species. Splits are usually good though. See also critical review in Auk121:623-627 here http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3793/is_200404/ai_n9396879 --> * Piersma, Theunis & Wiersma, Popko (1996): Family Charadriidae (Plovers). ''In:'' del Hoyo, Josep; Elliott, Andrew & Sargatal, Jordi (eds.): ''

Handbook of Birds of the World The ''Handbook of the Birds of the World'' (HBW) is a multi-volume series produced by the Spanish publishing house Lynx Edicions in partnership with BirdLife International. It is the first handbook to cover every known living species of bird. ...

'' (Volume 3: Hoatzin to Auks): 384–443, plates 35–39. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. *

External links

* *
Lapwing videos
on the Internet Bird Collection {{Authority control Bird genera Taxa named by Mathurin Jacques Brisson