Systematics

The taxonomy of Temminck's Courser (Cursorius temminckii) Swainson, 1822, has been a source of debate among ornithologists. It has been considered a monotypic species by some authors (29 White, C. M. N. (1965). A Revised Check List of African Non-passerine Birds. Government Printer, Lusaka, Zambia. Close , 26 Maclean, G. L., and E. K. Urban (1986). Temminck’s Courser Cursorius temminckii Swainson. In The Birds of Africa. Volume 2 (E. K. Urban, C. H. Fry, and S. Keith, Editors). Academic Press, London, UK. pp. 212–213. Close , 30 Dickinson, E. C., Editor (2003). The Howard and Moore Complete Checklist of the Birds of the World. Third edition. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ), but others have treated it as polytypic, with varying numbers of subspecies. Sclater (31 Sclater, W. L. (1924). Systema Avium Æthiopicarum. Part 1. British Ornithologists’ Union, London, UK. Close ) recognized one subspecies, damarensis Reichenow, 1900, from the arid southwest of the species' range, while Clancey (21 Clancey, P. A. (1989). The status of (Cursorius temminckii) damarensis Reichenow, 1901. Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club 109:51–53. Close ) and Hockey (5 Hockey, P. A. R. (2005). Temminck’s Courser Cursorius temminckii. In Roberts Birds of Southern Africa (P. A. R. Hockey, W. R. J. Dean, and P. G. Ryan, Editors), Trustees of the John Voelcker Bird Book Fund, Cape Town, South Africa. pp. 426–427. Close ) recognized two subspecies: ruvanensis Madarasz, 1915, and aridus Clancey 1989, in addition to the nominate. Clancey proposed that the southwestern subspecies, damarensis, was a synonym of the nominate temminckii from West Africa. Consequently, a new name was required for damarensis, and he introduced C. t. aridus as a replacement name for the subspecies previously referred to as 'damarensis.'

Temminck's Courser (Cursorius temminckii) is closely related to Burchell's Courser (Cursorius rufus), Cream-colored Courser (Cursorius cursor), Somali Courser (Cursorius somalensis), and Indian Courser (Cursorius coromandelicus), and the five species have in the past been treated as a single superspecies (32 Maclean, G. L. (1996). Glareolidae (Coursers and Pratincoles). In Handbook of the Birds of the World. Volume 3: Hoatzin to Auks (J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, and J. Sargatal, Editors), Lynx Edicions, Barcelona, Spain. pp. 364–383. Close ). Together, these species share rufous forecrowns, relatively long, decurved bills, and a whitish supercilium and black eyestripe that meet in a "V" on the nape, defining features of the genus Cursorius. There are, however, two distinct groups, regarded by some as representing two superspecies. The one group represents the two all-rufous crowned species with blackish upper bellies, namely Temminck's Courser and Indian Courser, and the second group represents the remaining species with blue-gray on the hindcrown and nape.

Although the present species has in the past been treated as conspecific with Cursorius coromandelicus, a combination of the smaller size of Temminck's Courser and some plumage differences between the two species led Snow (33 Snow, D. W., Editor (1978). An Atlas of Speciation in African Non-passerine Birds. British Museum (Natural History), London, UK. Close ) to conclude that they should be treated as allospecies of a superspecies.

There are regional differences in plumage with the two xeric subspecies, temminckii and aridus, averaging paler than ruvanensis from more mesic regions in East Africa and the eastern and southeastern parts of equatorial Africa. However, the plumage differences are slight and individual variation is considerable, complicating the delineation of the distribution limits of the three subspecies. Furthermore, it is conceivable that, given the species' complex movement patterns, which range from resident to nomadic and possibly migratory, individuals representing different populations may occasionally coexist at certain times of the year, further complicating unraveling geographic variation in Temminck's Courser. Additional factors to consider include the degree of feather wear, as older feathers tend to have a more washed-out appearance, and substrate color matching through frequent dust bathing (2 Engelbrecht, D. (2025). Notes on the behaviour and breeding biology of Temminck’s Courser Cursorius temminckii. The Lark 58:79–86. Close ).

Despite their size difference, the Temminck's Courser and Indian Courser form a natural grouping in the genus Cursorius. Both species have all-rufous crowns and a dark belly patch, whereas the remaining Cursorius species are characterized by their gray hindcrowns and plain underparts. Unlike the other desert-dwelling Cursorius species, Cursorius temminckii and Cursorius coromandelicus prefer open, often burnt, grasslands near wooded areas. Due to their close relationship, Snow (33 Snow, D. W., Editor (1978). An Atlas of Speciation in African Non-passerine Birds. British Museum (Natural History), London, UK. Close ) and Maclean (32 Maclean, G. L. (1996). Glareolidae (Coursers and Pratincoles). In Handbook of the Birds of the World. Volume 3: Hoatzin to Auks (J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, and J. Sargatal, Editors), Lynx Edicions, Barcelona, Spain. pp. 364–383. Close ) regarded them as members of a superspecies. A phylogenetic study using morphological and behavioral characters, as well as genetic data, supported the sister relationship of the two species, with, rather surprisingly, Burchell's Courser sister to them (35 Cohen, C. (2011). The Phylogenetics, Taxomony and Biogeography of African Arid Zone Terrestrial Birds: the Bustards (Otididae), Sandgrouse (Pteroclidae), Coursers (Glareolidae) and Stone Partridge (Ptilopachus). PhD thesis, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa. Close ).

There are no records of hybridization involving Temminck's Courser.

There are no fossils of the species.