NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Botha's Lark
Spizocorys fringillaris (Sundevall, 1850)
Source-backed taxonomic record
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Open encyclopedia reference
Botha's lark (Spizocorys fringillaris) is a species of lark in the family Alaudidae that is endemic to South Africa. It is considered to be South Africa's most endangered bird species with approximately 340 mature individuals left in the wild. Over the last decade, there has been a 90% population decline resulting in the species regionally being uplisted to Critically Endangered in the 2025 Regional Red Data Book of Birds of South Africa, Lesotho and Eswatini.
Wikipedia contributors, Botha's lark; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T02:20:39.487667+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Spizocorys fringillaris (Sundevall, 1850)
- Name authority
- (Sundevall, 1850)
- Common name
- Botha's Lark
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Aves
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Alaudidae
- Genus
- Spizocorys
- Extinction status
- Recorded extant
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- megaclassTetrapoda
- classAves
- orderPasseriformes
- familyAlaudidae Vigors, 1825
- genusSpizocorys Sundevall, 1872
- speciesSpizocorys fringillaris (Sundevall, 1850)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Spizocorys. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Sclater's LarkSpizocorys sclateri (Shelley, 1902) | AlaudidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Stark's LarkSpizocorys starki (Shelley, 1902) | AlaudidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Pink-billed LarkSpizocorys conirostris (Sundevall, 1850) | AlaudidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Short-tailed LarkSpizocorys fremantlii (Lort Phillips, 1897) | AlaudidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Obbia LarkSpizocorys obbiensis Witherby, 1905 | AlaudidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Masked LarkSpizocorys personata Sharpe, 1895 | AlaudidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Alauda fringillaris Sundevall, 1850 Sundevall, 1850 | synonym |
| Botha difficilis Shelley, 1902 Shelley, 1902 | synonym |
Documented distribution
Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=563068 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:4Z9B2. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.