Turkestan short-toed lark

Turkestan short-toed lark
In Muradiye, Van, Turkey
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Passeriformes
Family:	Alaudidae
Genus:	Alaudala
Species:	A. heinei
Binomial name
Alaudala heinei (Homeyer, 1873)

The Turkestan short-toed lark (Alaudala heinei) is a species of lark in the family Alaudidae. It is found in Ukraine and central Turkey through parts of Central Asia and southern Siberia west to south-central Mongolia and south to southern Afghanistan. ^[1] This species and the Mediterranean short-toed lark (A. rufescens) were formerly considered conspecific and called the lesser short-toed lark, but a 2020 study recovered them as distinct species. ^{[2] [3]}

Etymology

The genus name Alaudala is the diminutive of Alauda. The specific name heinei commemorates the German ornithologist Ferdinand Heine. ^[4]

Subspecies

Four subspecies are recognized: ^[1]

• Alaudala heinei pseudobaetica - (Stegmann, 1932): Found in eastern Turkey, Transcaucasia and northern Iran
• Alaudala heinei heinei - (Homeyer, 1873): Found from Ukraine to eastern Kazakhstan
• Alaudala heinei aharonii - (Hartert, 1910): Found in central Turkey
• Alaudala heinei persica - Sharpe, 1890: Found in eastern and southern Iraq to southern and south-western Afghanistan

References

1. "Nicators, reedling & larks « IOC World Bird List". www.worldbirdnames.org. Retrieved 2021-01-19.
2. "Alaudala [rufescens or heini, excl. niethammeri] (Mediterranean or Turkestan Short-toed Lark [excl. niethammeri]) - Avibase". avibase.bsc-eoc.org. Retrieved 2021-01-30.
3. Alström, Per; Van Linschooten, Jip; Donald, Paul F.; Sundev, Gombobaatar; Mohammadi, Zeinolabedin; Ghorbani, Fatemeh; Shafaeipour, Arya; Van Den Berg, Arnoud; Robb, Magnus; Aliabadian, Mansour; Wei, Chentao; Lei, Fumin; Oxelman, Bengt; Olsson, Urban (2021-01-01). "Multiple species delimitation approaches applied to the avian lark genus Alaudala". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 154: 106994. doi: 10.1016/j.ympev.2020.106994 . ISSN   1055-7903. PMID   33250446.
4. Jobling, James A. (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names: From Aalge to Zusii (1. Aufl. ed.). London: Christopher Helm. ISBN   978-1-4081-2501-4.

• International Ornithological Congress (January 23, 2021). "IOC World Bird List" . Retrieved January 23, 2021.