The golden sparrows and chestnut sparrow have been seen as highly primitive among the genus "Passer", only distantly related to the house sparrow and the related "Palaearctic black-bibbed sparrows". In recognition of this they are sometimes placed in a separate genus or subgenus "Auripasser", or a superspecies. The courtship display of the Dead Sea sparrow was thought to have evolved separately in a similar environment from that of these species, in an example of convergent evolution. However, studies of sparrow mitochondrial DNA indicate that these species are either derived from or are the closest relatives of the Palaearctic black-bibbed sparrows.