Amirafra Explained
Amirafra is a genus of larks in the family Alaudidae. It contains three species that were formerly placed in the genus Mirafra. These larks are found in sub-Sahara Africa.
Taxonomy
A 2023 molecular phylogenetic study of the lark family Alaudidae by the Swedish ornithologist Per Alström and his collaborators found that the genus Mirafra contained deep internal genetic divergences. They therefore proposed splitting Mirafra into four genera, each corresponding to a major clade. For one of these clades they resurrected the genus Amirafra that had originally been introduced in 1906 by the Russian ornithologist Valentin Bianchi with Mirafra collaris Sharpe, 1896, the collared lark, as the type species.[1] [2] [3] The name Amirafra combines the Ancient Greek negative prefix α-/a- with the genus Mirafra that had been introduced in 1821 by Thomas Horsfield.[4]
The genus contains three species:[2]
Notes and References
- Alström . P. . Per Alström . Mohammadi . Z. . Enbody . E.D. . Irestedt . M. . Engelbrecht . D. . Crochet . P.-A. . Guillaumet . A. . Rancilhac . L. . Tieleman . B.I. . Olsson . U. . Donald . P.F. . Stervander . M. . 2023 . Systematics of the avian family Alaudidae using multilocus and genomic data . Avian Research . 14 . 100095 . 10.1016/j.avrs.2023.100095 . free.
- Web site: Gill . Frank . Frank Gill (ornithologist) . Donsker . David . Rasmussen . Pamela . Pamela C. Rasmussen . August 2024 . Nicators, Bearded Reedling, larks . IOC World Bird List Version 14.2 . International Ornithologists' Union . 10 September 2024 .
- Bianchi . Valentin . Valentin Bianchi . 1906 . Catalogue of the known species of Alaudidae or family of larks with a table showing the geographical distribution and a key to the genera . Bulletin de l'Académie impériale des sciences de St.-Pétersbourg . Series 5 . 25 . 1-81 [12] .
- Web site: Jobling . James A. . Amirafra . The Key to Scientific Names . Cornell Lab of Ornithology . 7 September 2024 .
