CACrown ArchivesThe cinema collection
Menu
Research dossier · Science & Nature

Desert lark

species of bird

Specimen drawers, botanical folios and brass scientific instruments under study light
Science and natureInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionApr 14, 2026
Entity authorityQ890990 ↗
Source-derived summary

The desert lark (Ammomanes deserti) breeds in deserts and semi-deserts from Morocco to western India. It has a very wide distribution and faces no obvious threats, and surveys have shown that it is slowly increasing in numbers as it expands its range. The International Union for Conservation of Nature has rated its conservation status as being of "least concern".

Taxonomy and systematics

Originally, the desert lark was classified as belonging to the genus Alauda until moved to Ammomanes. Alternate names include desert finch lark and sand lark.

Subspecies

Twenty-two subspecies are recognized:

Southern Moroccan desert lark (A. d. payni) - Hartert, 1924: Found in southern Morocco and south-western Algeria

Algerian desert lark or North Algerian desert lark (A. d. algeriensis) - Sharpe, 1890: Originally described as a separate species. Found in northern Algeria, Tunisia, north-western Libya and north-western Chad

South Algerian desert lark (A. d. whitakeri) - Hartert, 1911: Found in south-eastern Algeria and south-western Libya

Central Algerian desert lark or Saharan desert lark (A. d.

Editorial summary

Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Desert lark” is species of bird. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Desert, lark and species, not as a finished interpretation.

Editorial reviewUseful for establishing the present vocabulary of the subject while preserving a route back to the evidence on which that vocabulary rests. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1924, 1890, 1911—that can be checked directly. The selected authority fields contribute no independent date. For this dossier, Desert, lark and species is the immediate research focus.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The phrase “species of bird” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.

Evidence profile

Datasets, specimens, observations and peer-reviewed methods provide the appropriate test for the technical claims summarized here. The source revision retrieved here is dated Apr 14, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q890990. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1924, 1890 and 1911.

Critical limits

Current terminology should not be projected backward without checking the classification used when the underlying evidence was created. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Check terminology, classification and the date of the cited evidence. Scientific names and technical consensus can change while older records retain historical value.

Best used for
  • Current terminology
  • Classification context
  • Finding cited technical literature
Verify next

Primary datasets, specimen catalogues, standards bodies and the most recent peer-reviewed literature.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Desert lark”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Desert lark primary sources, Desert lark archive and Desert research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Desert lark”?
  2. Is the terminology current, historical or disputed?
  3. Which observation, specimen, dataset or publication supports the account?
Subject index

Search terms from this dossier

Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Desert lark” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.