Eremopterix

Eremopterix is the genus of sparrow-larks, songbirds in the family Alaudidae. The sparrow-larks are found from Africa to the Indian subcontinent.

==Taxonomy== The genus Eremopterix was introduced in 1836 by the German naturalist Johann Jakob Kaup. The name combines the Ancient Greek ερημος/erēmos meaning "desert" with πτερυξ/pterux, πτερυγος/pterugos meaning "bird" or "winged creature". Kaup did not specify a type species but in 1907 the Russian ornithologist Valentin Bianchi designated the type as Fringilla otoleuca Temminck, 1824. This is a junior synonym of Alaudo melanocephala Lichtenstein, 1823, which is considered to be a subspecies of Eremopterix leucotis (Stanley, 1814), the chestnut-backed sparrow-lark.