Lapwing Vanellinae Charadriidae plovers dotterel Red-kneed
Vanellinae are a subfamily of medium-sized wading birds belonging to the family Charadriidae, which also includes the plovers and dotterels. The Vanellinae are collectively called lapwings but also contain the ancient Red-kneed Dotterel. A lapwing can be thought of as a larger plover. The traditional terms "plover", "lapwing" and "dotterel" were coined long before modern understandings of the relationships between different groups of birds emerged: in consequence, several of the Vanellinae are still often called "plovers", and the reverse also applies, albeit more rarely, to some Charadriinae (the "true" plovers and dotterels). In Europe, "lapwing" often refers specifically to the Northern Lapwing, as the only member of this group to occur in most of the continent. The fossil record of the Vanellinae is scant and mostly of rather recent 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 indeed have been almost one and the same, and certainly 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, increasing the reliability of 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 - 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 my
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