Mirafra

Mirafra
Bengal bush lark (Mirafra assamica) in Kolkata (West Bengal, India)
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Passeriformes
Family:	Alaudidae
Genus:	Mirafra Horsfield, 1821
Type species
Mirafra javanica[1] Horsfield, 1821
Diversity
24 species (but see text)
global range of genus[2]
Synonyms
Geocoraphus Megalophonus Spilocorydon

Mirafra is a genus of lark in the family Alaudidae. Some Mirafra species are called "larks", while others are called "bush larks". They are found from Africa through South Asia to Australia.

Taxonomy

The genus Mirafra was introduced in 1821 by the American naturalist Thomas Horsfield to accommodate a single species, Mirafra javanica the singing bush lark, which is therefore considered as the type species.^[3][4] The derivation of the genus name is unknown.^[5]

The phylogeny of larks (Alaudidae) was reviewed by Alström et al. (2013) who found that the following species form a well supported monophyletic group, which is the sister lineage to Heteromirafra.^[6]

Extant species

The genus contains twenty-four species:^[7]

Image	Scientific name	Common Name	Distribution
	Mirafra fasciolata	Eastern clapper lark	southern Africa in Zambia, Namibia, Botswana, Lesotho and South Africa.
	Mirafra apiata	Cape clapper lark	southern Africa
	Mirafra hypermetra	Red-winged lark	Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda
	Mirafra africana	Rufous-naped lark	sub-Saharan Africa
	Mirafra sharpii	Sharpe's lark	northwestern Somalia
	Mirafra rufocinnamomea	Flappet lark	Central Africa
	Mirafra angolensis	Angola lark	southern and central Africa
	Mirafra williamsi	Williams's lark	northern Kenya
	Mirafra passerina	Monotonous lark	southern Africa.
	Mirafra cheniana	Melodious lark	South Africa (Eastern Cape, the Free State, Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo, and North West Province), Botswana and Zimbabwe
	Mirafra javanica	Singing bush lark	Australia and much of Southeast Asia.
	Mirafra microptera	Burmese bush lark	central Myanmar
	Mirafra assamica	Bengal bush lark	Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar and Nepal
	Mirafra erythrocephala	Indochinese bush lark	southeast Asia.
	Mirafra erythroptera	Indian bush lark	Pakistan and northwestern, central and south-central India.
	Mirafra affinis	Jerdon's bush lark	southeast India and Sri Lanka
	Mirafra gilletti	Gillett's lark	Ethiopia, Kenya, and Somalia
	Mirafra rufa	Rusty bush lark	Sahel region of north-central Africa.
	Mirafra collaris	Collared lark	eastern Ethiopia and Somalia to central Kenya
	Mirafra ashi	Ash's lark	Somalia.
	Mirafra somalica	Somali lark	Somalia
	Mirafra pulpa	Friedmann's lark	East Africa.
	Mirafra cordofanica	Kordofan lark	Mauritania and Senegal to Niger, eastern Chad, southern Sudan and northern South Sudan
	Mirafra albicauda	White-tailed lark	western Chad, eastern Sudan, northeastern South Sudan, south-central Ethiopia, and from Uganda and western Kenya to central Tanzania

Former species

Some authorities, either presently or formerly, recognize several additional species as belonging to the genus Mirafra, including:

• Short-clawed lark (as Mirafra chuana)^[8]
• Dusky lark (as Mirafra nigricans)^[9]
• Rufous-rumped lark (as Mirafra erythropygia or Mirafra nigricans erythropygia)^[10]
• Indian desert finch-lark (as Mirafra phoenicuroides)^[11]
• Rufous-tailed lark (as Mirafra phoenicura)^[12]
• Madagascan lark (as Mirafra hova)^[13]
• Sabota lark (as Mirafra sabota)^[14]
• Bradfield's lark (as Mirafra naevia)^[15]
• Pink-breasted lark (as Mirafra poecilosterna)^[16]
• Foxy lark (as Mirafra alopex)^[17]
• Masai fawn-coloured lark (as Mirafra intercedens)^[18]
• Fawn-coloured lark (as Mirafra africanoides)^[19]
• Karoo lark (as Mirafra albescens or Mirafra nivosa)^[20]
• Red lark (as Mirafra burra)^[21]
• Dune lark (as Mirafra erythrochlamys)^[22]
• Barlow's lark (as Mirafra erythrochlamys barlowi)^[23]
• Rudd's lark (as Mirafra ruddi)^[24]
• Archer's lark (as Mirafra archeri)^[25]
• Sidamo lark (as Mirafra sidamoensis)^[26]
• Ngaundere sun lark (as Mirafra strümpelli)^[27]
• Uele sun lark (as Mirafra bucolica)^[28]

References

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