Vanellus

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Genus of birds

title: "Vanellus" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["vanellus", "bird-genera", "taxa-named-by-mathurin-jacques-brisson"] description: "Genus of birds" topic_path: "general/vanellus" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vanellus" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Genus of birds ::

| name = Vanellus | image = Vanellus miles novaehollandiae.jpg | image_caption = Vanellus miles novaehollandiae | image2 = Keichwa 01.jpg | image2_caption = Vanellus vanellus | taxon = Vanellus | authority = Brisson, 1760 | type_species = Tringa vanellus | type_species_authority = Linnaeus, 1758 | subdivision_ranks = Species | subdivision = 24, see text | synonyms = {{collapsible list|bullets = true|title=List |Afribyx Mathews, 1913

Anomalophrys Sharpe, 1896

|Anitibyx Wolters, 1974

|Belonopterus Reichenbach, [1852]

|Chaetusia Agassiz, 1846 (unjustified emendation)

|Cheltusia Verreaux, 1855 (unjustified emendation)

|Chettusia Bonaparte, 1838

|Chetusia Gray, 1841 (unjustified emendation)

|Choetusia Blyth, 1854 (unjustified emendation)

|Dorypaltus Brodkorb, 1959

|Hemiparra Salvadori, 1865

|Hoplopterus Bonaparte, 1831

|Hoploxypterus Bonaparte, 1856

|Lobibyx Heine [1890]

|Lobipluria Bonaparte, 1856 (lapsus)

|Lobipluvia Bonaparte, 1856

|Lobivanellus Strickland 1841

|Microsarcops Sharpe 1896

|Ptiloscelys Bonaparte, 1856

|Sarciophorus Strickland 1841

|Stephanibyx Reichenbach, [1852]

|Rogibyx Mathews 1913

|Tylibyx Reichenbach, [1852]

|Vanellochettusia Brandt 1852

|Xiphidiopterus Reichenbach, [1852]

and see text

Vanellus is the genus of waders which provisionally contains all lapwings except red-kneed dotterel, Erythrogonys cinctus. The name "vanellus" is Latin for "little fan", vanellus being the diminutive of vannus ("winnowing fan"). The name is in reference to the sound lapwings' wings make in flight.

Description

These long-legged waders mostly have strongly patterned plumage. Although the most familiar Eurasian lapwing, Vanellus vanellus (northern lapwing), has a wispy crest, only two other species do so. Red or yellow facial wattles are a more typical decoration.

Only northern, sociable, white-tailed, grey-headed and brown-chested lapwings are truly migratory species. The Andean lapwing moves downhill in winter.

Spur-winged, blacksmith, river, southern, Andean and pied lapwings are boldly patterned, red-eyed species with a spurred carpal (wrist) joint.

Many species have wattles which can be small (black-headed, spot-breasted, red-wattled and banded lapwings) or large (white-crowned, African wattled, yellow-wattled, Javan, and masked lapwings). The latter species are the largest of the plover family, since several exceed 30 cm.

Systematics

The genus Vanellus was erected by the French zoologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson in 1760. The name was derived by tautonymy from the original binomial name of the northern lapwing Tringa vanellus introduced by Linnaeus in 1758. Vanellus is the Medieval Latin for a "lapwing". It is a diminutive of the Latin vanus meaning "winnowing" or "fan".

The systematics of Vanellus have hitherto resisted clear resolution. Essentially, no major revision can be brought to agree with another, and up to 19 genera were at one time recognized for the 24 lapwing species. While it might be desirable to split up this large and diverse genus a bit, the morphological characters are a confusing mix of apomorphic and plesiomorphic traits in any one species, with few relationships readily apparent. Molecular data has been found to provide even less sufficient resolution, though the lapwings have not yet been as thoroughly studied under this aspect as other Charadriiformes.

The only thing that can be said with a fair degree of certainty is that according to the DNA sequence data one group of 5 species seems to stand out. These are wattle-less lapwings which were separated as Anitibyx, Belonopterus, Hoplopterus (in the narrow sense) and Ptiloscelys. They are visually very dissimilar, but it is notable that their distribution forms a clean band through the tropical regions of the world except Australia; they might conceivably form a clade. The only species among them that is migratory is the Andean lapwing (V. resplendens), which as noted above cannot be allied with the truly migratory lapwings on these grounds. However, if these were to be split off, for one thing it is almost certain that other lineages would also require separation; the new genus' name would probably be Hoplopterus, which is the longest- and most widely used alternative lapwing genus. ::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/75/Spur-winged_lapwing_(Vanellus_spinosus)_in_flight.jpg" caption="[[Spur-winged lapwing"] ::

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fd/Black-headed_lapwing_(Vanellus_tectus_tectus).jpg" caption="[[Black-headed lapwing]]"] ::

List of species in taxonomic order

  • [[File:Crowned Lapwing (Vanellus coronatus) (6041345466).jpg|thumb|[[Crowned lapwing]]]][[File:African wattled lapwing (Vanellus senegallus senegallus).jpg|thumb|[[African wattled lapwing]]]][[File:Vanellus-chilensis-001.jpg|thumb|[[Southern lapwing]]]]Northern lapwing, also known as green plover and as peewit, Vanellus vanellus Alternatively placed in Hemiparra:

  • Long-toed lapwing, Vanellus crassirostris Alternatively placed in Anitibyx:

  • Blacksmith lapwing or blacksmith plover, Vanellus armatus Alternatively placed in Hoplopterus:

  • Spur-winged lapwing or "spur-winged plover", Vanellus spinosus

  • River lapwing or "spur-winged lapwing", Vanellus duvaucelii Alternatively placed in Sarciophorus, Lobivanellus or Hoplopterus:

  • Black-headed lapwing or black-headed plover, Vanellus tectus Alternatively placed in Lobipluvia or Hoplopterus:

  • Yellow-wattled lapwing, Vanellus malabaricus Alternatively placed in Xiphidiopterus or Hoplopterus:

  • White-crowned lapwing, white-headed lapwing, white-crowned plover or white-headed plover, Vanellus albiceps Alternatively placed in Stephanibyx or Hoplopterus:

  • Senegal lapwing or lesser black-winged lapwing, Vanellus lugubris

  • Black-winged lapwing or greater black-winged lapwing, Vanellus melanopterus

  • Crowned lapwing or crowned plover, Vanellus coronatus Alternatively placed in Afribyx:

  • African wattled lapwing or wattled lapwing, Vanellus senegallus Alternatively placed in Tylibyx, Lobivanellus or Hoplopterus:

  • Spot-breasted lapwing, Vanellus melanocephalus Alternatively placed in Anomalophrys:

  • Brown-chested lapwing, Vanellus superciliosus Alternatively placed in Microsarcops or Hoplopterus:

  • Grey-headed lapwing, Vanellus cinereus Alternatively placed in Lobivanellus or Hoplopterus:

  • Red-wattled lapwing, Vanellus indicus Alternatively placed in Rogibyx:

  • Javan lapwing, Javanese lapwing, or Javanese wattled lapwing, Vanellus macropterus Alternatively placed in Zonifer, Lobivanellus or Hoplopterus:

  • Banded lapwing, Vanellus tricolor Alternatively placed in Lobibyx, Lobivanellus or Hoplopterus:

  • Masked lapwing or "spur-winged plover", Vanellus miles Alternatively placed in Chettusia:

  • Sociable lapwing or sociable plover, Vanellus gregarius Alternatively placed in Vanellochettusia or Chettusia:

  • White-tailed lapwing or white-tailed plover, Vanellus leucurus Alternatively placed in Hoploxypterus:

  • Pied lapwing, Vanellus cayanus Alternatively placed in Belonopterus:

  • Southern lapwing, Vanellus chilensis Alternatively placed in Ptiloscelys or Belonopterus:

  • Andean lapwing, Vanellus resplendens

Prehistoric species

Species known only from fossil or subfossil remains include:

  • †Vanellus madagascariensis (14th century Madagascar)
  • †Vanellus liffyae (Late Pliocene of central Australia)
  • †Vanellus lilloi (Middle/Late Pleistocene of Centinela del Mar, Argentina)
  • †Vanellus downsi (Late Pleistocene of Rancho La Brea, USA)
  • †Vanellus edmundi (Late Pleistocene of Talalra, Peru) [Belonopterus cannot be considered valid based on a subjective assessment (though it may well be good, it is not acceptable by modern taxonomic standards); a thorough revision and full cladistic study is needed]

The Brea lapwing, Belonopterus downsi, was described from the upper Pleistocene asphalt deposits of Rancho La Brea, Los Angeles, California, by Campbell (2002). Belonopterus downsi is similar in size to the South American species Belonopterus chilensis, but it is sufficiently distinct to be recognized as an extinct species. Although some authors lump Belonopterus with Vanellus, osteologically they are sufficiently distinct to maintain as separate genera. The Brea lapwing was named after Dr. Theodore Downs, a prominent vertebrate paleontologist and long-time Chief Curator of Earth Sciences at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County.

The Talara lapwing, Belonopterus edmundi, was described by Campbell (1979) from the upper Pleistocene deposits named the Talara Tar Seeps found near Talara, Peru. Numerous osteological characters were described that distinguish this extinct species from the living South American lapwings and placed it in the genus Belonopterus, as distinct from Vanellus. The Talara Lapwing was named after Dr. A. Gordon Edmund, the individual most responsible for the paleontological collections from the Talara Tar Seeps.

The last three of these seem to be very closely related to the southern lapwing and all were placed in Belonopterus by the describing authors. If Viator picis, also from the Late Pleistocene of Talara, does not belong to an entirely extinct lineage, it might belong to that group too; it seems too large to be closely related to the smallish pied lapwing.

Neither the Early Oligocene Dolicopterus from Ronzon, France nor the supposed mid-Oligocene lapwing "Vanellus" selysii of Rupelmonde (Belgium) unquestionably belong here. While their age suggests that they may indeed represent some ancient lapwings, the fossil remains have not been studied for many decades and a review is seriously overdue.

References

Sources

  • Campbell, Kenneth E. Jr. (2002): A new species of Late Pleistocene lapwing from Rancho La Brea, California [English with Spanish abstract]. Condor 104: 170–174. HTML abstract and first page image
  • Mlíkovský, Jirí (2002): Cenozoic Birds of the World, Part 1: Europe. Ninox Press, Prague. PDF fulltext
  • Piersma, Theunis & Wiersma, Popko (1996): Family Charadriidae (Plovers). In: del Hoyo, Josep; Elliott, Andrew & Sargatal, Jordi (eds.): Handbook of Birds of the World (Volume 3: Hoatzin to Auks): 384–443, plates 35–39. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona.

References

  1. . ["Charadriidae"](https://www.aviansystematics.org/4th-edition-checklist?viewfamilies=54). *The Trust for Avian Systematics*.
  2. Terres & NAS (1980): p.741
  3. Jobling, James A. (2010). "The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names". Christopher Helm.
  4. Brisson, Mathurin Jacques. (1760). "Ornithologie, ou, Méthode Contenant la Division des Oiseaux en Ordres, Sections, Genres, Especes & leurs Variétés". Jean-Baptiste Bauche.
  5. (1934). "Check-list of Birds of the World". Harvard University Press.
  6. Linnaeus, C.. (1758). "Systema Naturæ per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis, Volume 1". Holmiae:Laurentii Salvii.
  7. Jobling, James A.. (2010). "The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names". Christopher Helm.
  8. Piersma & Wiersma (1996), Thomas ''et al.'' (2004)
  9. Goodman, Steven M. (1997). "Description of a new species of subfossil lapwing (Aves: Charadriiformes, Charadriidae, ''Vanellus'') from Madagascar". Bulletin du Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle.
  10. (2018). "A new species of lapwing (Charadriidae: ''Vanellus'') from the late Pliocene of central Australia". Emu - Austral Ornithology.
  11. {{cite jstor. 1370353
  12. Campbell (2002)
  13. Not ''[[Dolichopterus]]'', ''contra'' Mlíkovský (2002)
  14. Mlíkovský (2002)

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vanellusbird-generataxa-named-by-mathurin-jacques-brisson