Mirafra | |
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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
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Diversity | |
24 species (but see text) | |
global range of genus [2] | |
Synonyms | |
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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.
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]
The genus contains twenty-four species: [7]
Image | Scientific name | Common Name | Distribution |
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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 |
Some authorities, either presently or formerly, recognize several additional species as belonging to the genus Mirafra, including: