Galerida

Galerida is a genus of birds in the family Alaudidae. The current scientific name is derived from Latin. Galerida was the name for a lark with a crest, from galerum, "cap". The name Galerida is synonymous with the earlier genus names Calendula, Heliocorys and Ptilocorys.

Taxonomy and systematics

The genus Galerida was established by the German zoologist Friedrich Boie in 1828. The type species was subsequently designated as the crested lark.

Extant species

The genus contains seven species:

Image	Scientific name	Common Name	Distribution
File:Syke's Lark Galerida deva by Dr. Raju Kasambe DSCN5681 (2).jpg	Galerida deva	Sykes's lark	central India
File:Sun Lark (Galerida modesta) (8080033500).jpg	Galerida modesta	Sun lark	Guinea to South Sudan
File:Long-billed Lark - Natal - South Africa S4E7266 (16740106237).jpg	Galerida magnirostris	Large-billed lark	southern Africa
File:Thekla Lark seen on rocks near Sagres Portugal (11930398044).jpg	Galerida theklae	Thekla lark	Iberian Peninsula, in northern Africa, and sub-Saharan Africa from Senegal to Somalia
File:Crested lark singing.jpg	Galerida cristata	Crested lark	northern Africa and in parts of western Asia and China
File:Malabar Crested Lark.jpg	Galerida malabarica	Malabar lark	western India.
File:Galerida macrorhyncha cropped.jpg	Galerida macrorhyncha	Maghreb lark	Maghreb desert of north-eastern Africa.

Extinct species

There are at least two fossil species which are included in this genus:

• †Galerida bulgarica (late Pliocene of Varshets, Bulgaria)
• †Galerida pannonica (Pliocene of Csarnota, Hungary)

Former species

Formerly, some authorities also considered the following species (or subspecies) as species within the genus Galerida:

• Short-tailed lark (as Galerida fremantlii)
• Dunn's lark (as Calendula dunni)

References

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