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{{short description|Subfamily of birds}}
{{Short description|Subfamily of birds}}
{{other uses}}
{{Other uses}}
{{Automatic taxobox
{{Automatic taxobox
| name = Lapwings
| name = Lapwings
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''[[Erythrogonys]]''<br />
''[[Erythrogonys]]''<br />
''[[Vanellus]]''<br />
''[[Vanellus]]''<br />
''[[Hoploxypterus]]''<br />
and see text
and see text
}}
}}


'''Lapwings''' ([[subfamily]] Vanellinae) are any of various ground-nesting birds ([[Family (biology)|family]] [[Charadriidae]]) akin to [[plover]]s and [[dotterel]]s. They range from {{Convert|10 to 16|inch|cm}} in length, and are noted for their slow, irregular wingbeats in flight and a shrill, wailing cry.
'''Lapwings''' ([[subfamily]] Vanellinae) are any of various ground-nesting birds ([[Family (biology)|family]] [[Charadriidae]]) akin to [[plover]]s and [[dotterel]]s. They range from {{Convert|10 to 16|inch|cm}} in length.


The traditional terms "plover", "lapwing", and "dotterel" do not correspond exactly to current taxonomic models; thus, several of the Vanellinae are often called plovers, and [[Red-kneed dotterel|one]] a dotterel, while a few of the "true" plovers (subfamily [[Charadriinae]]) are known colloquially as lapwings. In general, a lapwing can be thought of as a larger plover.
The traditional terms "plover", "lapwing", and "dotterel" do not correspond exactly to current taxonomic models; thus, several of the Vanellinae are often called plovers, and [[Red-kneed dotterel|one]] a dotterel, while a few of the "true" plovers (subfamily [[Charadriinae]]) are known colloquially as lapwings. In general, a lapwing can be thought of as a larger plover.
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In Europe's Anglophone countries, ''lapwing'' refers specifically to the [[northern lapwing]], the only member of this group to occur in most of the continent and thus the first bird to go by the English name ''lapwing'' (also known as ''peewit'' or ''pyewipe'').
In Europe's Anglophone countries, ''lapwing'' refers specifically to the [[northern lapwing]], the only member of this group to occur in most of the continent and thus the first bird to go by the English name ''lapwing'' (also known as ''peewit'' or ''pyewipe'').


In the fanciful taxonomy promoted by medieval [[courtesy books]], a group of lapwings was called a "deceit".<ref>{{Cite book|last=Lipton|first=James|url=https://archive.org/details/exaltationoflark0000lipt_x7z9|url-access=registration|title=An Exaltation of Larks|date=1991|publisher=Viking|isbn=978-0-670-30044-0|language=en}}</ref>
In the fanciful taxonomy promoted by medieval [[courtesy book]]s, a group of lapwings was called a "deceit".<ref>{{Cite book|last=Lipton|first=James|url=https://archive.org/details/exaltationoflark0000lipt_x7z9|url-access=registration|title=An Exaltation of Larks|date=1991|publisher=Viking|isbn=978-0-670-30044-0|language=en}}</ref>


==Systematics==
==Systematics==
{{see also|Vanellus}}
{{See also|Vanellus}}
While authorities generally agree that there about 25 species of Vanellinae, classifications within the subfamily remain confused. Some workers{{who|date=January 2023}} have gone so far as to group all the "true" lapwings (except the [[red-kneed dotterel]]) into the single genus ''Vanellus''. Current consensus favors a more moderate position, but it is unclear which genera to split. The ''[[Handbook of Birds of the World]]'' provisionally places all Vanellinae in ''Vanellus'' except the red-kneed dotterel, which is in the [[monotypic]] ''Erythrogonys''. Its [[plesiomorphic]] [[Morphology (biology)|habitus]] resembles that of [[plover]]s, but details like the missing [[hallux]] (hind toe) are like those of lapwings: it is still not entirely clear whether it is better considered the most [[basal (evolution)|basal]] plover or lapwing.<ref>Piersma & Wiersma (1996), Thomas ''et al.'' (2004)</ref>
While authorities generally agree that there are approximately 25 species of Vanellinae, classifications within the subfamily remain confused. Some workers{{who|date=January 2023}} have gone so far as to group all the "true" lapwings (except the [[red-kneed dotterel]]) into the single genus ''Vanellus''. Current consensus favors a more moderate position, but it is unclear which genera to split. The ''[[Handbook of Birds of the World]]'' provisionally places all Vanellinae in ''Vanellus'' except the red-kneed dotterel, which is in the [[monotypic]] ''Erythrogonys''. Its [[plesiomorphic]] [[Morphology (biology)|habitus]] resembles that of [[plover]]s, but details like the missing [[hallux]] (hind toe) are like those of lapwings: it is still not entirely clear whether it is better considered sister to all other plovers or lapwings.<ref>Piersma & Wiersma (1996), Thomas ''et al.'' (2004)</ref> The [[International Ornithologists' Union|IOC]] also recognizes a monotypic genus ''[[Hoploxypterus]]'' for the [[pied plover]].


Many coloration details of the red-kneed dotterel also occur here and there among the living members of the main lapwing [[clade]]. Its position as the most [[basal (evolution)|basal]] of the living Vanellinae or just immediately outside it thus means that their [[last common ancestor]] – or even the last common ancestor of plovers and lapwings – almost certainly was a plover-sized bird with a black crown and breast-band, a white feather patch at the wrist, no hallux, and a [[lipochrom]]ic (probably red) bill with a black tip. Its legs were most likely black or the color of the bill's base.<ref name = hbw>Piersma & Wiersma (1996)</ref>
Many coloration details of the red-kneed dotterel also occur here and there among the living members of the main lapwing [[clade]]. Its position as the sister to all other living Vanellinae or just immediately outside the subfamily thus suggests that their [[last common ancestor]] – or even the last common ancestor of plovers and lapwings – almost certainly was a plover-sized bird with a black crown and breast-band, a white feather patch at the wrist, no hallux, and a [[lipochrom]]ic (probably red) bill with a black tip. Its legs were most likely black or the color of the bill's base.<ref name = hbw>Piersma & Wiersma (1996)</ref>


===Evolution===
===Evolution===
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Apart from the [[prehistoric]] ''Vanellus'', the [[extinct]] lapwing genus ''[[Viator (bird)|Viator]]'' has been described from fossils. Its remains were found in the [[tar pit]]s of [[Talara]] in [[Peru]] and it lived in the [[Late Pleistocene]]. Little is known of this rather large lapwing; it may actually belong in ''Vanellus''.<ref>Campbell (2002)</ref>
Apart from the [[prehistoric]] ''Vanellus'', the [[extinct]] lapwing genus ''[[Viator (bird)|Viator]]'' has been described from fossils. Its remains were found in the [[tar pit]]s of [[Talara]] in [[Peru]] and it lived in the [[Late Pleistocene]]. Little is known of this rather large lapwing; it may actually belong in ''Vanellus''.<ref>Campbell (2002)</ref>


The remaining [[Wader|Charadrii]] are highset and/or chunky birds, even decidedly larger than a lot of the [[Scolopacidae|scolopacid waders]]. The evolutionary trend regarding the Charadriidae – which make up most of the diversity of the Charadrii – thus runs contrary to [[Cope's rule|Cope's Rule]].<ref name = hbw />
The remaining [[Wader|Charadrii]] are highset or chunky birds, larger than many of the [[Scolopacidae|scolopacid waders]]. The evolutionary trend regarding the Charadriidae – which make up most of the diversity of the Charadrii – thus runs contrary to [[Cope's rule|Cope's Rule]].<ref name = hbw />


===List of species in taxonomic order===
===List of species in taxonomic order===
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* [[Sociable lapwing]], ''Vanellus gregarius''
* [[Sociable lapwing]], ''Vanellus gregarius''
* [[White-tailed lapwing]], ''Vanellus leucurus''
* [[White-tailed lapwing]], ''Vanellus leucurus''
* [[Pied lapwing]], ''Vanellus cayanus''
* [[Andean lapwing]], ''Vanellus resplendens''
* [[Andean lapwing]], ''Vanellus resplendens''
Genus ''Hoploxypterus''
* [[Pied lapwing]], ''Hoploxypterus cayanus''


Genus ''Erythrogonys''
Genus ''Erythrogonys''
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==References==
==References==
{{Commons category|Vanellus}}
* Campbell, Kenneth E. Jr. (2002). A new species of Late Pleistocene lapwing from Rancho La Brea, California [English with Spanish abstract]. ''[[Condor (journal)|Condor]]'' '''104''': 170–174. <small>[[Digital Object Identifier|DOI]]:10.1650/0010-5422(2002)104[0170:ANSOLP]2.0.CO;2</small> [https://www.jstor.org/pss/1370353 HTML abstract and first page image]
* Campbell, Kenneth E. Jr. (2002). A new species of Late Pleistocene lapwing from Rancho La Brea, California [English with Spanish abstract]. ''[[Condor (journal)|Condor]]'' '''104''': 170–174. <small>[[Digital Object Identifier|DOI]]:10.1650/0010-5422(2002)104[0170:ANSOLP]2.0.CO;2</small> [https://www.jstor.org/pss/1370353 HTML abstract and first page image]
* Mlíkovský, Jirí (2002). ''Cenozoic Birds of the World, Part 1: Europe''. Ninox Press, Prague. <small>{{Listed Invalid ISBN|80-901105-3-8}}</small> [https://web.archive.org/web/20110520101755/http://www.nm.cz/download/JML-18-2002-CBE.pdf PDF fulltext]<!-- This should be treated with extreme caution as regards merging of species. Splits are usually good though. See also critical review in Auk121:623-627 here http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3793/is_200404/ai_n9396879 -->
* Mlíkovský, Jirí (2002). ''Cenozoic Birds of the World, Part 1: Europe''. Ninox Press, Prague. <small>{{Listed Invalid ISBN|80-901105-3-8}}</small> [https://web.archive.org/web/20110520101755/http://www.nm.cz/download/JML-18-2002-CBE.pdf PDF fulltext]<!-- This should be treated with extreme caution as regards merging of species. Splits are usually good though. See also critical review in Auk121:623-627 here http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3793/is_200404/ai_n9396879 -->
* 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. <small>{{ISBN|84-87334-20-2}}</small>
* 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. <small>{{ISBN|84-87334-20-2}}</small>
* Thomas, Gavin H.; Wills, Matthew A. & Székely, Tamás (2004). A supertree approach to shorebird phylogeny. ''[[BMC journals|BMC Evol. Biol.]]'' '''4''': 28. <small>{{doi|10.1186/1471-2148-4-28}} {{PMID|15329156}}</small> [http://www.pubmedcentral.org/picrender.fcgi?artid=515296&blobtype=pdf PDF fulltext] [https://archive.today/20130802041856/http://www.pubmedcentral.org/articlerender.fcgi?artid=515296%23supplementary-material-sec Supplementary Material]
* Thomas, Gavin H.; Wills, Matthew A. & Székely, Tamás (2004). A supertree approach to shorebird phylogeny. ''[[BMC journals|BMC Evol. Biol.]]'' '''4''': 28. <small>{{doi|10.1186/1471-2148-4-28|doi-access=free}} {{PMID|15329156}}</small> [http://www.pubmedcentral.org/picrender.fcgi?artid=515296&blobtype=pdf PDF fulltext] [https://archive.today/20130802041856/http://www.pubmedcentral.org/articlerender.fcgi?artid=515296%23supplementary-material-sec Supplementary Material]
 
==External links==
{{commons category|Vanellus}}


{{taxonbar|from=Q289448}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q289448}}
{{Authority control}}


[[Category:Vanellinae|*]]
[[Category:Vanellinae|*]]
[[Category:Taxa named by Charles Lucien Bonaparte]]
[[Category:Taxa named by Charles Lucien Bonaparte]]

Latest revision as of 04:10, 13 December 2025


For other uses, see Lapwing (disambiguation).

Lapwings
Blacksmith lapwing (Vanellus armatus)
Scientific classification e
: [[Template:Taxonomy/Vanellinae]]
Bonaparte, 1842
Genera

Erythrogonys
Vanellus
Hoploxypterus
and see text

Lapwings (subfamily Vanellinae) are any of various ground-nesting birds (family Charadriidae) akin to plovers and dotterels. They range from 10 to 16 inches (25 to 41 cm) in length.

The traditional terms "plover", "lapwing", and "dotterel" do not correspond exactly to current taxonomic models; thus, several of the Vanellinae are often called plovers, and one a dotterel, while a few of the "true" plovers (subfamily Charadriinae) are known colloquially as lapwings. In general, a lapwing can be thought of as a larger plover.

In Europe's Anglophone countries, lapwing refers specifically to the northern lapwing, the only member of this group to occur in most of the continent and thus the first bird to go by the English name lapwing (also known as peewit or pyewipe).

In the fanciful taxonomy promoted by medieval courtesy books, a group of lapwings was called a "deceit".[1]

Systematics[edit | edit source]

See also: Vanellus

While authorities generally agree that there are approximately 25 species of Vanellinae, classifications within the subfamily remain confused. Some workers[who?] have gone so far as to group all the "true" lapwings (except the red-kneed dotterel) into the single genus Vanellus. Current consensus favors a more moderate position, but it is unclear which genera to split. The Handbook of Birds of the World provisionally places all Vanellinae in Vanellus except the red-kneed dotterel, which is in the monotypic Erythrogonys. Its plesiomorphic habitus resembles that of plovers, but details like the missing hallux (hind toe) are like those of lapwings: it is still not entirely clear whether it is better considered sister to all other plovers or lapwings.[2] The IOC also recognizes a monotypic genus Hoploxypterus for the pied plover.

Many coloration details of the red-kneed dotterel also occur here and there among the living members of the main lapwing clade. Its position as the sister to all other living Vanellinae or just immediately outside the subfamily thus suggests that their last common ancestor – or even the last common ancestor of plovers and lapwings – almost certainly was a plover-sized bird with a black crown and breast-band, a white feather patch at the wrist, no hallux, and a lipochromic (probably red) bill with a black tip. Its legs were most likely black or the color of the bill's base.[3]

Evolution[edit | edit source]

The fossil record of the Vanellinae is scant and mostly recent in origin; no Neogene lapwings seem to be known. On the other hand, it appears as if early in their evolutionary history the plovers, lapwings and dotterels must have been almost one and the same, and they are hard to distinguish osteologically even today. Thus, since the Red-kneed Dotterel is so distinct that it might arguably be considered a monotypic subfamily, reliably dating its divergence from a selection of true lapwings and plovers would also give a good idea of charadriid wader evolution altogether.

A mid-Oligocene – c.28 mya (million years ago) – fossil from Rupelmonde in Belgium has been assigned to Vanellus, but even if the genus were broadly defined, it is entirely unclear if the placement is correct. Its age ties in with the appearance of the first seemingly distinct Charadriinae at about the same time, and with the presence of more basal Charadriidae a few million years earlier. However, the assignment of fragmentary fossils to Charadriinae or Vanellinae is not easy. Thus, it is very likely that the charadriid waders originate around the Eocene-Oligocene boundary – roughly 40–30 mya – but nothing more can be said at present. If the Belgian fossil is not a true lapwing, there are actually no Vanellinae fossils known before the Quaternary.[4]

The Early Oligocene fossil Dolicopterus[5] from Ronzon, France may be such an ancestral member of the Charadriidae or even the Vanellinae, but it has not been studied in recent decades and is in dire need of review.[6]

Apart from the prehistoric Vanellus, the extinct lapwing genus Viator has been described from fossils. Its remains were found in the tar pits of Talara in Peru and it lived in the Late Pleistocene. Little is known of this rather large lapwing; it may actually belong in Vanellus.[7]

The remaining Charadrii are highset or chunky birds, larger than many of the scolopacid waders. The evolutionary trend regarding the Charadriidae – which make up most of the diversity of the Charadrii – thus runs contrary to Cope's Rule.[3]

List of species in taxonomic order[edit | edit source]

Genus Vanellus

Genus Hoploxypterus

Genus Erythrogonys

Footnotes[edit | edit source]

  1. ↑ Lipton, James (1991). An Exaltation of Larks. Viking. ISBN 978-0-670-30044-0.
  2. ↑ Piersma & Wiersma (1996), Thomas et al. (2004)
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Piersma & Wiersma (1996)
  4. ↑ Piersma & Wiersma (1996), Mlíkovský (2002)
  5. ↑ Not Dolichopterus, contra Mlíkovský (2002)
  6. ↑ Mlíkovský (2002)
  7. ↑ Campbell (2002)

References[edit | edit source]

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