Leiothrichidae

Life-forms

Superregnum: Eukaryota
Regnum: Animalia
Subregnum: Eumetazoa
Cladus: Bilateria
Cladus: Nephrozoa
Superphylum: Deuterostomia
Phylum: Chordata
Cladus: Craniata
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Infraphylum: Gnathostomata
Superclassis: Tetrapoda
Cladus: Reptiliomorpha
Cladus: Amniota
Classis: Reptilia
Cladus: Eureptilia
Cladus: Romeriida
Subclassis: Diapsida
Cladus: Sauria
Infraclassis: Archosauromorpha
Cladus: Crurotarsi
Divisio: Archosauria
Subsectio: Ornithodira
Subtaxon: Dinosauromorpha
Cladus: Dinosauria
Ordo: Saurischia
Cladus: Theropoda
Cladus: Neotheropoda
Infraclassis: Aves
Ordo: Passeriformes
Subordo: Passeri
Infraordo: Passerida
Superfamilia: Sylvioidea

Familia: Leiothrichidae
Genera: Actinodura – Babax – Crocias – Cutia – Garrulax – Heterophasia – Kupeornis – Leiothrix – Liocichla – Minla – Phyllanthus – Pterorhinus – Trochalopteron – Turdoides –

Name

Leiothrichidae Swainson, 1832
Typus

Leiothrix
Swainson, 1832
References

Fauna boreali-americana 2: 232, 490, pro subfamilia, "Leiotrichanæ".
IOC World Bird List 7.1

Vernacular names
Deutsch: Häherlinge
English: Laughingthrushes
中文: 噪鹛科

The laughingthrushes are a family, Leiothrichidae, of Old World passerine birds. They are diverse in size and coloration. These are birds of tropical areas, with the greatest variety in Southeast Asia and the Indian subcontinent. The entire family used to be included in the Old World babbler family Timaliidae.

Characteristics

They are small to medium-sized birds. They have strong legs, and many are quite terrestrial. They typically have generalised bills, similar to those of a thrush. Most have predominantly brown plumage, with minimal difference between the sexes, but many more brightly coloured species also exist.[2]

This group is not strongly migratory, and most species have short rounded wings, and a weak flight. They live in lightly wooded or scrubland environments, ranging from swamp to near-desert. They are primarily insectivorous, although many will also take berries, and the larger species will even eat small lizards and other vertebrates.[2]
Taxonomy

The family Leiothrichidae was introduced (as a subfamily Leiotrichanae) by the English naturalist William Swainson in 1832.[3] A comprehensive molecular phylogenetic study of the family published in 2018 led to substantial revision of the taxonomic classification.[1] The laughingthrushes in the genus Garrulax were found to belong to three separate clades that had diverged in the Miocene 7-9 million year ago. The genus was therefore split with Garrulax restricted to one clade and the genera Pterorhinus and Ianthocincla resurrected for the other two clades. The genus Turdoides was also split and species moved into the resurrected genus Argya.[1][4]

In a separate change, the crocias were moved to the genus Laniellus Swainson, 1832 which has priority over Crocias Temminck, 1836.[4][5][6]
List of genera

The family contains 133 species in 16 genera:[4]

Grammatoptila – striated laughingthrush
Cutia – cutias (2 species)
Laniellus – crocias (2 species)
Trochalopteron – laughingthrushes (19 species)
Actinodura – barwings and minlas (9 species)
Montecincla – laughingthrushes (4 species)
Minla – red-tailed minla
Leioptila – rufous-backed sibia
Leiothrix – (2 species)
Liocichla - liocichlas (5 species)
Heterophasia - sibias (7 species)
Argya – mainly babblers (16 species) – previous placed in Turdoides
Turdoides – babblers (19 species)
Garrulax – laughingthrushes (14 species)
Ianthocincla – laughingthrushes (8 species) – previously placed in Garrulax
Pterorhinus – laughingthrushes and babaxes (23 species) – previously placed in Garrulax

References

Cibois, A.; Gelang, M.; Alström, P.; Pasquet, E.; Fjeldså, J.; Ericson, P.G.P.; Olsson, U. (2018). "Comprehensive phylogeny of the laughingthrushes and allies (Aves, Leiothrichidae) and a proposal for a revised taxonomy". Zoologica Scripta. 47 (4): 428–440. doi:10.1111/zsc.12296.
Perrins, C. (1991). Forshaw, Joseph (ed.). Encyclopaedia of Animals: Birds. London: Merehurst Press. pp. 188–190. ISBN 1-85391-186-0.
Swainson, William John; Richardson, J. (1831). Fauna boreali-americana, or, The zoology of the northern parts of British America. Part 2. The Birds. London: J. Murray. p. 490. The title page bears the year 1831 but the volume did not appear until 1832.
Gill, Frank; Donsker, David; Rasmussen, Pamela, eds. (January 2021). "Laughingthrushes and allies". IOC World Bird List Version 11.1. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 18 June 2021.
Gregory, S.M.S.; Dickinson, E. (2012). "An assessment of three little‐noticed papers on avian nomenclature by G.N. Kashin during 1978‐1982". Zootaxa. 3340: 44-58 [51].

Dickinson, E.C.; Christidis, L., eds. (2014). The Howard & Moore Complete Checklist of the Birds of the World. Volume 2: Passerines (4th ed.). Eastbourne, UK: Aves Press. p. 548. ISBN 978-0-9568611-2-2.