The Asian short-toed lark (''Alaudala cheleensis'') is a

lark Larks are passerine birds of the family Alaudidae. Larks have a cosmopolitan distribution with the largest number of species occurring in Africa. Only a single species, the horned lark, occurs in North America, and only Horsfield's bush lark occu ...

in the family

Alaudidae Larks are passerine birds of the family Alaudidae. Larks have a cosmopolitan distribution with the largest number of species occurring in Africa. Only a single species, the horned lark, occurs in North America, and only Horsfield's bush lark occu ...

. The species was first described by

Robert Swinhoe Robert Swinhoe FRS (1 September 1836 – 28 October 1877) was an English diplomat and naturalist who worked as a Consul in Formosa. He catalogued many Southeast Asian birds, and several, such as Swinhoe's pheasant, are named after him. Bio ...

in 1871. It is found from south-central to eastern Asia.

Taxonomy and systematics

Formerly or presently, some authorities have considered the Asian short-toed lark to belong to the genus ''

Calandrella ''Calandrella'' is a genus of larks in the family Alaudidae. Taxonomy and systematics The genus ''Calandrella'' was established by the German naturalist Johann Jakob Kaup in 1829 with the greater short-toed lark as the type species. The genus n ...

'' or to be a subspecies of the lesser short-toed lark. Alternate names for the Asian short-toed lark include the Asiatic short-toed lark, eastern short-toed lark (a name also used by the steppe greater short-toed lark), grey short-toed lark, Mongolian short-toed lark (not to be confused with the species of the same name, Calandrella dukhunensis), salined lark and salt-marsh lark. A

molecular phylogenetic Molecular phylogenetics () is the branch of phylogeny that analyzes genetic, hereditary molecular differences, predominantly in DNA sequences, to gain information on an organism's evolutionary relationships. From these analyses, it is possible to ...

study published in 2020 compared the nuclear and mitochondrial DNA from the

sand Sand is a granular material composed of finely divided mineral particles. Sand has various compositions but is defined by its grain size. Sand grains are smaller than gravel and coarser than silt. Sand can also refer to a textural class of s ...

, Asian short-toed, and

Mediterranean short-toed lark The Mediterranean short-toed lark (''Alaudala rufescens'') is a small passerine bird found in and around the Mediterranean Basin. It is a common bird with a very wide range from Canary Islands north to the Iberian Peninsula and east throughout N ...

s. The study analysed samples from 130 individuals that represented 16 of the 18 recognised subspecies. The resulting phylogenetic tree indicated that neither the Asian short-toed lark, nor the lesser short-toed lark as currently defined are

monophyletic In cladistics for a group of organisms, monophyly is the condition of being a clade—that is, a group of taxa composed only of a common ancestor (or more precisely an ancestral population) and all of its lineal descendants. Monophyletic gro ...

. Most of the subspecies were also found to be non-monophyletic. The authors refrained from proposing a revised taxonomy until additional studies had been completed comparing the vocalizations, sexual behaviour and ecology.

Subspecies

Six

subspecies In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species ...

are recognized: * ''A. c. leucophaea'' - ( Severtsov, 1873): Originally described as a separate species in the genus ''Calandrella''. Found from Kazakhstan to Turkmenistan * ''A. c. seebohmi'' - Sharpe, 1890: Originally described as a separate species. Found in north-western China * ''A. c. tuvinica'' - (

Stepanyan Stepanyan (also commonly spelled Stepanian) (Armenian: Ստեփանյան) is an Armenian surname, derived from ''Stepan'' (Armenian: Ստեփան), the Armenian equivalent of Stephen, and could refer to any of the following people: * Arthur Stepa ...

, 1975): Found in north-western Mongolia and southern Russia * ''A. c. cheleensis'' - R. Swinhoe, 1871: Found in south-central Siberia, north-eastern Mongolia and north-eastern China * ''A. c. kukunoorensis'' -

Przewalski Nikolay Mikhaylovich Przhevalsky (or Prjevalsky;; pl, Nikołaj Przewalski, . – ) was a Russian geographer of Polish descent (he was born in a Polish noble family), and a renowned explorer of Central and East Asia. Although he never reache ...

, 1876: Found in west-central China * ''A. c. beicki'' - (

Meise Meise () is a municipality located in the Belgian province of Flemish Brabant. The municipality comprises the towns of Meise proper and Wolvertem (a ''deelgemeente''), and, several smaller villages like Sint-Brixius-Rode, Oppem, Meusegem, Impde/I ...

, 1933): Found in southern Mongolia and north-central China

References

Alaudala Birds of India Birds of Pakistan Birds described in 1871 Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Taxobox binomials not recognized by IUCN {{Alaudidae-stub