Plains lark

Plains lark
Subspecies (Corypha kabalii irwini) in south-central Angola
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Alaudidae
Genus: Corypha
Species:
C. kabalii
Binomial name
Corypha kabalii
(White, CMN, 1943)

The plains lark (Corypha kabalii) is a species of lark in the family Alaudidae found in Gabon, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Angola and northwest Zambia. It was formerly treated as a subspecies of the rufous-naped lark.

Taxonomy

The plains lark was formally described in 1943 by the English orthithologist Charles M.N. White based on a specimen collected near Balovale (now the town of Zambezi) in northwest Zambia near the border with Angola. He considered it to be a subspecies of the rufous-naped lark and coined the trinomial name Mirafra africana kabalii.[1][2] He chose the specific epithet to honour a local collector and hunter Kabali Muzeya.[3] The plains lark is now treated as a separate species and placed in the genus Corypha. This is based on the results of two molecular phylogenetic studies by a team of ornithologists led by Per Alström that were published in 2023 and 2024.[4][5][6]

Three subspecies are recognised:[6]

  • C. k. malbranti (Chapin, 1946) – Gabon to south DR Congo
  • C. k. kabalii (White, CMN, 1943) – northeast Angola and northwest Zambia
  • C. k. irwini (da Rosa Pinto, 1968) – southeast Angola (previously synonymized with C. africana pallida)

References

  1. ^ White (1943). "Three new races from northern Rhodesia". Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club. 64: 19-22 [20-21].
  2. ^ Mayr, Ernst; Greenway, James C. Jr, eds. (1960). Check-List of Birds of the World. Vol. 9. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Museum of Comparative Zoology. p. 11.
  3. ^ Jobling, James A. "kabalii". The Key to Scientific Names. Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Retrieved 12 September 2024.
  4. ^ Alström, P.; 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. doi:10.1016/j.avrs.2023.100095.
  5. ^ Alström, P.; Mohammadi, Z.; Donald, P.F.; Nymark, M.; Enbody, E.D.; Irestedt, M.; Elisha, E.B.; Ndithia, H.K.; Tieleman, B.I.; Engelbrecht, D.; Olsson, U.; Rancilhac, L.; Stervander, M. (2024). "Integrative taxonomy reveals unrecognised species diversity in African Corypha larks (Aves: Alaudidae)". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 200 (4): 1080–1108. doi:10.1093/zoolinnean/zlad107.
  6. ^ a b Gill, Frank; Donsker, David; Rasmussen, Pamela, eds. (August 2024). "Nicators, Bearded Reedling, larks". IOC World Bird List Version 14.2. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 12 September 2024.


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