The laughingthrushes are a family, Leiothrichidae, of Old World

passerine A passerine () is any bird of the order Passeriformes (; from Latin 'sparrow' and '-shaped'), which includes more than half of all bird species. Sometimes known as perching birds, passerines are distinguished from other orders of birds by th ...

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweig ...

s. They are diverse in size and coloration. These are birds of tropical areas, with the greatest variety in

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical south-eastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of mainlan ...

and the

Indian subcontinent The Indian subcontinent is a list of the physiographic regions of the world, physiographical region in United Nations geoscheme for Asia#Southern Asia, Southern Asia. It is situated on the Indian Plate, projecting southwards into the Indian O ...

. 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. This group is not strongly migratory, and most

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

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.

Taxonomy

The family Leiothrichidae was introduced (as a subfamily Leiotrichanae) by the English naturalist William Swainson in 1832. A comprehensive molecular phylogenetic study of the family published in 2018 led to substantial revision of the taxonomic classification. The laughingthrushes in the genus ''

Garrulax ''Garrulax'' is a genus of passerine birds in the laughingthrush family Leiothrichidae. Taxonomy The genus ''Garrulax'' was erected by the French naturalist René Lesson in 1831. The type species was designated in 1961 as the rufous-fronted lau ...

'' were found to belong to three separate clades that had diverged in the

Miocene The Miocene ( ) is the first epoch (geology), geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and mea ...

7-9 million year ago. The genus was therefore split with ''Garrulax'' restricted to one clade and the genera ''

Pterorhinus ''Pterorhinus'' is a genus of passerine birds in the laughingthrush family Leiothrichidae. Taxonomy The genus was erected by the English zoologist Robert Swinhoe in 1868 with the plain laughingthrush (''Pterorhinus davidi'') as the type specie ...

'' and '' Ianthocincla'' resurrected for the other two clades. The genus ''

Turdoides ''Turdoides'' is a genus of passerine birds in the laughingthrush family Leiothrichidae. The species are distributed across Africa and southern Asia and are typically fairly large, long-tailed birds which forage in noisy groups. The majority of s ...

'' was also split and species moved into the resurrected genus ''

Argya ''Argya'' is a genus of passerine birds in the family Leiothrichidae. The species are distributed across Africa and southern Asia and are typically fairly large, long-tailed birds that forage in noisy groups. Members of this genus were formerly p ...

''. In a separate change, the crocias were moved to the genus ''Laniellus'' Swainson, 1832 which has priority over ''Crocias''

Temminck Coenraad Jacob Temminck (; 31 March 1778 – 30 January 1858) was a Dutch aristocrat, zoologist and museum director. Biography Coenraad Jacob Temminck was born on 31 March 1778 in Amsterdam in the Dutch Republic. From his father, Jacob Temmin ...

, 1836. The cladogram below is based on a study of the babblers by Tianlong Cai and collaborators published in 2019. The cladogram below shows the phylogenetic relationships between the genera in the family Leiothrichidae based on a study by Alice Cibois and collaborators published in 2018.

List of genera

The family contains 133 species in 16 genera: * '' Grammatoptila'' –

striated laughingthrush The striated laughingthrush (''Grammatoptila striatus'') is a passerine bird in the family Leiothrichidae. It was at one time placed in the genus ''Garrulax'' but following the publication of a comprehensive molecular phylogenetic study in 2018, ...

* '' Cutia'' – cutias (2 species) * '' Laniellus'' – crocias (2 species) * ''

Trochalopteron ''Trochalopteron'' is a genus of passerine birds in the laughingthrush family Leiothrichidae. Taxonomy The genus ''Trochalopteron'' was introduced in 1843 by the English zoologist Edward Blyth. The name combines the Ancient Greek ''trokhalos'' ...

'' – laughingthrushes (19 species) * '' Actinodura'' – barwings and minlas (9 species) * '' Montecincla'' – laughingthrushes (4 species) * ''

Minla The red-tailed minla (''Minla ignotincta'') is a passerine bird in the family Leiothrichidae. It is the only species in the genus ''Minla''. It is found in the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia. Its range includes Bangladesh, Bhutan, Indi ...

'' –

red-tailed minla The red-tailed minla (''Minla ignotincta'') is a passerine bird in the family Leiothrichidae. It is the only species in the genus ''Minla''. It is found in the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia. Its range includes Bangladesh, Bhutan, Indi ...

* '' Leioptila'' – rufous-backed sibia * '' Leiothrix'' – (2 species) * ''

Liocichla The liocichlas are a group of birds in the genus of the same name, ''Liocichla'', from the family Leiothrichidae. They are found in Asia from India to China. They belong to a clade also containing at least the '' Leiothrix'', the barwings, the ...

'' - liocichlas (5 species) * '' Heterophasia'' - sibias (7 species) * ''

'' – mainly babblers (16 species) – previous placed in ''Turdoides'' * ''

'' – babblers (19 species) * ''

'' – laughingthrushes (14 species) * '' Ianthocincla'' – laughingthrushes (8 species) – previously placed in ''Garrulax'' * ''

'' – laughingthrushes and babaxes (23 species) – previously placed in ''Garrulax''

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1951184 Bird families Sylvioidea