| Spilopelia | |
|---|---|
|   | |
| Spotted dove (S. chinensis) with plumage pattern of S. c. tigrina | |
| Scientific classification   | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota | 
| Kingdom: | Animalia | 
| Phylum: | Chordata | 
| Class: | Aves | 
| Order: | Columbiformes | 
| Family: | Columbidae | 
| Subfamily: | Columbinae | 
| Genus: | Spilopelia Sundevall, 1873 | 
| Species | |
| See text | |
| Synonyms | |
| Stigmatopelia Sundevall, 1873 | |
Spilopelia is a genus of doves that are closely related to Streptopelia and Nesoenas , but distinguished from them by differences in morphology and genetics. Some authors [1] had argued that Stigmatopelia is the valid name as it appears in an earlier line of the same work by the Swedish zoologist Carl Sundevall, [2] [a] but Richard Schodde and Ian J. Mason had earlier, in their 1999 zoological catalogue of Australian birds, chosen Spilopelia in treating these two names as applying to the same genus; their choice stands under clause 24(b) of the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN) which supports the decision of the first reviser. [4] [5] The name Spilopelia combines the Ancient Greek spilos meaning "spot" and peleia meaning "dove". [6]
| A phylogenetic position based on Johnson et al. (2001). A second possibility is that Columba is a sister of Streptopelia but the remaining clades appear to be monophyletic. [7] | 
The genus includes just two species: [8]
| Common name | Scientific name and subspecies | Range | Size and ecology | IUCN status and estimated population | 
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spotted dove | Spilopelia chinensis (Scopoli, 1786) Five subspecies 
 | Indian subcontinent and in East and Southeast Asia | Size: 27–30 cm; 125–130 g Habitat: moist woodland, gardens Diet: seeds including grain, small fruit | LC 
 | 
| Laughing dove | Spilopelia senegalensis (Linnaeus, 1766) Five subspecies 
 | Africa, the Middle East, South Asia | Size: 23–27 cm; 71–92 g Habitat: villages, gardens, dry woodland, savanna Diet: seeds including grain, small fruit, insects | LC 
 | 
Some ornithologists split the spotted dove into the eastern spotted dove (Spilopelia chinensis) and the western spotted dove (Spilopelia suratensis), [9] [10] but this has not to date been accepted by the IOC. [11]