Desert Sparrow

SCI Name:  Passer simplex
Protonym:  Fringilla simplex Verz.Doubl.Zool.Mus.Berlin p.24
Taxonomy:  Passeriformes / Passeridae / Passer
Taxonomy Code:  desspa3
Type Locality:  Ambukol on the Nile, Sudan.
Author:  Lichtenstein, MHC
Publish Year:  1823
IUCN Status:  Least Concern

DEFINITIONS

PASSER
(Passeridae; Ϯ House Sparrow P. domesticus) L. passer, passeris  sparrow; "Rostro in apicem crassum & brevem exeunte; { Rostri basi capiti latitudine multo cedente. . . . . .Passer. Genus 33.   ...   XXXIII. Genus Passerinum.  Le genre du Moineau.  ...  1. LE MOINEAU FRANC  ...  PASSER DOMESTICUS.  ...  Ils se nourrissent de graines & d'Insectes. Ils font leur nid dans les trous des murs." (Brisson 1760): based on "Passer" and "Passer domesticus" of many authors (Brisson lists over 20 species and forms of 'Moineau'); "Passer Brisson, 1760, Orn., 1, p. 36 [; 3, p. 71]. Type, by subsequent designation (Gray, 1840, List Gen. Birds, ed. 1, p. 46), Fringilla domestica Linnaeus." (Greenway in Peters 1962, XV, 8).  No thanks to positive introduction, the House Sparrow, with a natural Palaearctic and western Indomalayan range, is now found throughout the world as a commensal of man. If the New Zealand wrens (Acanthisittiformes) and the tyrants and allies (Subosciniformes) are separated from the Passeriformes sens. lat. the remaining species could be titled Osciniformes.
Synon. Ammopasser, Auripasser, Caffropasser, Chrysospiza, Corospiza, Leucophrya, Megapasser, Pseudostruthus, Pyrgita, Pyrgitopsis, Salicipasser, Sorella.

passer
L. passer, passeris  sparrow.

simplex
L. simplex, simplicis  simple, plain.
● ex “Simple Tern” of Latham 1785 (Phaetusa ☼).

SUBSPECIES

Desert Sparrow (saharae)
SCI Name: Passer simplex saharae
saharae / sahari
Sahara Desert  < Arabic sahrā’  desert.

Desert Sparrow (simplex)
SCI Name: Passer simplex simplex
simplex
L. simplex, simplicis  simple, plain.
● ex “Simple Tern” of Latham 1785 (Phaetusa ☼).