Tibetan sand plover

The Tibetan sand plover (Charadrius atrifrons) is a small wader in the plover family of birds, breeds in Pamir Mountains, Tian Shan, Tibetan Plateau and south Mongolia, winters in east and south Africa, south, east and southeast Asia.

Tibetan sand plover
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Clade:	Dinosauria
Class:	Aves
Order:	Charadriiformes
Family:	Charadriidae
Genus:	Charadrius
Species:	C. atrifrons
Binomial name
Charadrius atrifrons Wagler, 1829

It was previously considered conspecific with the Siberian (lesser) sand plover, and includes three subspecies: C. a. atrifrons, breeds in Tibet, C. a. pamirensis breeds in Pamir Mountains, and C. a. schaeferi, breeds in Qinghai.

A study published in 2022 proposed that the "mongolus" group of lesser sand plover is the sister group of greater sand plover, and "atrifrons" group is the sister group of them also. So a taxonomic split of lesser sand plover was needed. The authors suggested new scientific and common English name for them:[1]

• Siberian sand plover (Charadrius mongolus), C. m. mongolus and C. m. stegmanni;
• Tibetan sand plover (Charadrius atrifrons), C. a. atrifrons, C. a. pamirensis and C. a. schaeferi;
• Desert sand plover (Charadrius leschenaultii), currently greater sand plover.

IOC accepted the split and renaming of the lesser sand plover in 2023, erecting the Tibetan sand plover as a full species.[2]