NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD

Somali Short-toed Lark

Alaudala somalica Sharpe, 1895

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.

An illustration of the en:Somali short-toed lark, Calandrella somalica, also called Alaudula somalica. From page 149 of the book "Through Unknown African Countries. The first expedition from Somaliland to Lake Lamu ... Illustrated. [With maps.]"
Arthur Donaldson Smith (book author) · Public domain · Image source
Provider-generated thumbnail requested at 800 pixels; no local editing Local WebP display rendition; resized without cropping.

Open encyclopedia reference

The Somali short-toed lark (Alaudala somalica) is a small passerine bird of the lark family found in eastern and north-eastern Africa.

The habitat of the Somali short-toed lark is subtropical or tropical dry lowland grassland.

Wikipedia contributors, Somali short-toed lark; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T09:58:12.470364+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.

Identity & source status

Scientific name: Alaudala somalica Sharpe, 1895
Name authority: Sharpe, 1895
Common name: Somali Short-toed Lark
Rank: species
Accepted status: accepted
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Alaudidae
Genus: Alaudala
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
genusAlaudala Horsfield & F. Moore, 1858
speciesAlaudala somalica Sharpe, 1895

Close classified relatives

These entries share the source’s genus, Alaudala. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.

Species	Classification	Source status
Turkestan Short-toed LarkAlaudala heinei (Homeyer, 1873)	AlaudidaeChordata	Accepted speciesRecorded extant

Browse 55 records assigned to Alaudidae.

Names & synonyms

Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.

Recorded name	Source status
Calandrella somalica (Sharpe, 1895) (Sharpe, 1895)	synonym

Documented distribution

Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.

Africa

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.

Sharpe, & Richard Bowdler. (1895). On a Collection of Birds made by Dr. A. Donaldson Smith during his recent Expedition in Western Somaliland. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London, Vol. 63. 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.

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:L7HQR. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.