Plocealauda is a genus of in the family Alaudidae. Introduced in 2023, it contains five species that were formerly placed in the genus Mirafra. Their distributions range from the Indian subcontinent to Southeast Asia.
Taxonomy and systematics
A 2023 molecular phylogenetic study of the lark family
Alaudidae by the Swedish ornithologist Per Alström and collaborators found that the genus
Mirafra contained deep internal genetic divergences. They therefore proposed splitting
Mirafra into four genera, each corresponding to a major clade. Names were available for three of the clades, but for the fourth clade, they introduced the new name
Plocealauda and designated the
type species as
Miafra assamica Thomas Horsfield, 1840, the Bengal bush lark.
The name
Plocealauda is a portmanteau of the genera
Ploceus, introduced by
Georges Cuvier for the
weaverbird in 1816, and
Alauda, introduced by
Carl Linnaeus for the larks in 1785.
Species
The genus
Plocealauda contains five species, all of which include "bush lark" in their English name.
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Burmese bush lark, Plocealauda microptera
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Indochinese bush lark, Plocealauda erythrocephala
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Jerdon's bush lark, Plocealauda affinis
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Indian bush lark, Plocealauda erythroptera
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Bengal bush lark, Plocealauda assamica
Two species in other genera also have "bush lark" in their English names: the singing bush lark ( Mirafra javanica) and the rusty bush lark ( Calendulauda rufa).[
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