Short-tailed Pipit

SCI Name:  Anthus brachyurus
Protonym:  Anthus brachyurus Oefv.Vet.-Akad.Forh. 7 p.100 ? yr ydP
Taxonomy:  Passeriformes / Motacillidae / Anthus
Taxonomy Code:  shtpip1
Type Locality:  near Durban.
Author:  Sundevall
Publish Year:  1850
IUCN Status:  Least Concern

DEFINITIONS

ANTHUS
(Motacillidae; † Meadow Pipit A. pratensis) L. anthus  small bird that inhabited grasslands mentioned by Pliny, not further identified, but probably the Yellow Wagtail  < Gr. ανθος anthos  small, brightly coloured bird mentioned by Aristotle.  In Gr. myth. Anthus, son of Antinous and Hippodamia, was killed by his father’s horses and metamorphosed into a bird which imitated the neighing of horses but fled at their sight; "47. Pieper. Anthus.  Ich rechne zu dieser neuen Gattung vier Arten.   ...   Das was Frisch in der Naturgeschichte von No. III. von der Greuthlerche erzählt, gehört eigentlich zur Pieplerche (Alauda trivialis), die er Wiesenlerche nennt.  Das aber, was er von der Wiesenlerche No. IV. sagt, paßt nur auf die Brachlerche (Alauda campestris).  Das, was er von felner Pieplerche sagt, hat zwar seine Richtigkeit, allein die Ueberschrift ist falsch, und sollte eigentlich Wiesenlerche (Alauda pratensis) heißen *).  ...  *) Diese Vögel, nämlich die Brach- Piep- und Wiesenlerche haben zu vielen Irrthümern in den naturhistorischen Schriften Anlaß gegeben. Ich habe mich selbst irre führen lassen. Ich habe daher für dieselben, da sie zu auffallend von den Lerchen abweichen, eine besondere Gattung, die ich Anthus nenne, gebildet.   ...   161. Die Brachlerche oder der Brachpieper. Alauda campestris. L. Taf. 15. Fig. 2. b. (Anthus campestris, mihi." (Bechstein 1805); "Anthus Bechstein, Gemein. Naturg. Deutschl. ii, pp. 247, 302, 1805.  Type by subsequent designation of Mathews (Austral Av. Rec. ii, p. 123, 1918), Alauda campestris.  ...  This genus until recently has been quoted from Bechstein's third volume, p. 704, 1807, and the type designated by Gray in 1840 as A. spinoletta.  Under the earlier citation of Anthus, here quoted, the Water-Pipit is not mentioned, so that it cannot under the Rules be designated as the type of the genus.  The three species which are mentioned by Bechstein are A. campestris, A. trivialis, and A. pratensis.  Sharpe, in Cat. Bds. Brit. Mus. x, p. 534, 1885, designated A. trivialis, but did not quote the earlier reference to Bechstein.  Mathews subsequently therefore (Austral Av. Rec. ii, p. 123, 1918) designated A. campestris, which is here accepted as the type." (W. Sclater, 1930, Syst. Av. Aethiop., II, 340); "Anthus Bechstein, 1805, Gemein. Nat. Deutschl., 2, p. 247, 302, 465.  Type, by subsequent designation, Alauda pratensis Linnaeus (Selby, 1825, Illust. Brit. Orn., p. xxix)." (Vaurie in Peters, 1960, IX, p. 144).
Var. Arthur, Artthus.
Synon. Afranthus, Agrodroma, Anomalanthana, Anomalanthus, Austranthus, Caffranthus, Cichlops, Cinaedium, Corydalla, Dendronanthus, Heterura, Leimoniptera, Meganthus, Megistina, Neocorys, Notiocorys, Oreocorys, Pediocorys, Petranthus, Pipastes, Rhabdochlamys, Seiren, Spipola, Xanthocorys.

brachyurus
Gr. βραχυς brakhus  short; -ουρος -ouros  -tailed  < ουρα oura  tail.

Brachyurus
Gr. βραχυς brakhus  short; ουρα ourα  tail.
• (Conopophagidae; syn. Conopophaga † Black-cheeked Gnateater C. melanops) "Brachyurus THUNBERG, Kongl. Vetenskaps Akad. Handl., 1821, Part 2, p. 371 (types Brachyurus gularis and B. ruber = Conopophaga m. melanops [VIEILLOT])." (Hellmayr, 1924, Cat. Birds Americas, Pt. III, 25) (see next sub-entry).  Laurent Raty in litt. considers Hellmayr's statement of multiple types (latterly treated as the male and female of the same species) as invalid.
• (Pittidae; syn. Pitta † Indian Pitta P. brachyura) "Denne fogel finnes tecknad uti Museo Carlsoniano, Tom. 4 och Tab. 84 under namn af Turdus triostegus.  ...  Jag har ansett det kunna få namn af BRACHYURUS och sin plats ibland Passeres, näst efter Turdus.  Character Generis blifver då    Rostrum capite brevius, rectum.  Mandibula superior conico-trigona apice incurvo, longior, intra apicem utrinque excisa; inferior brevior, recta.  Cauda alis (non longior) æqualis, rotundata.  ...  Förutan BRACHYURUS triostegus ifrån Ön Ceilon, har Brasilien i sednare tider skänkt osstvenne andra arter  ...  BRACHYURUS gularis.  B. supra olivaceus pileo rubro; temporibus atris; subtus fuscus gula crissoque albis.   ...   BRACHYURUS ruber.  B. supra fuscus maculis dorsalibus testaceis; subtus ferrugineis." (Thunberg 1821); "Brachyurus Thunberg, 1821, Kongl. Vetenskaps Akad. Handling., II, p. 371.  Type, by subsequent designation (G. Gray, 1840, List Genera Birds, p. 26), Turdus triostegus Sparrman, 1789 = Corvus brachyurus Linnaeus, 1766." (Laurent Raty in litt.) (JAJ 2020).   
Var. Brachiurus.

SUBSPECIES

Short-tailed Pipit (leggei)
SCI Name: Anthus brachyurus leggei
leggei
● Capt. Hon. Gerald Legge (1882-1915) British Army, explorer on the Ruwenzori Expedition 1905-1906 (subsp. Anthus brachyurus).
● Lt.-Col. William Vincent Legge (1841-1918) Australian Army, naturalist in Ceylon 1868-1883 (Secretary of the Royal Asiatic Society, Ceylon), co-founder and first President of the RAOU 1901 (syn. Charadrius alexandrinus seebohmi, syn. Chlidonias hybrida, subsp. Hemipus picatus, subsp. Kittacincla malabarica, subsp. Malurus cyaneus, subsp. Otus sunia, subsp. Prinia hodgsonii, subsp. Treron bicinctus, subsp. Turnix suscitator).

Short-tailed Pipit (brachyurus)
SCI Name: Anthus brachyurus brachyurus
brachyurus
Gr. βραχυς brakhus  short; -ουρος -ouros  -tailed  < ουρα oura  tail.