The laughingthrushes are a family, Leiothrichidae, of

Old World The "Old World" () is a term for Afro-Eurasia coined by Europeans after 1493, when they became aware of the existence of the Americas. It is used to contrast the continents of Africa, Europe, and Asia in the Eastern Hemisphere, previously ...

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 generally have an anisodactyl arrangement of their ...

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class (biology), class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the Oviparity, laying of Eggshell, hard-shelled eggs, a high Metabolism, metabolic rate, a fou ...

s. The family contains 133 species and is divided into 16

genera Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family as used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In binomial nomenclature, the genus name forms the first part of the binomial s ...

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

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, southeastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of China, east of the Indian subcontinent, and northwest of the Mainland Au ...

and the

Indian subcontinent The Indian subcontinent is a physiographic region of Asia below the Himalayas which projects into the Indian Ocean between the Bay of Bengal to the east and the Arabian Sea to the west. It is now divided between Bangladesh, India, and Pakista ...

. 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 Thrush may refer to: Birds * Thrush (bird), any of the birds in the family Turdidae ** List of thrush species * Antthrushes, the Formicariidae family of birds * Dohrn's warbler, or Dohrn's thrush-babbler, a species ''Sylvia dohrni'' in the famil ...

. 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 A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

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 A robber fly eating a hoverfly An insectivore is a carnivorous animal or plant which eats insects. An alternative term is entomophage, which can also refer to the human practice of eating insects. The first vertebrate insectivores we ...

, 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 William Swainson Fellow of the Linnean Society, FLS, Fellow of the Royal Society, FRS (8 October 1789 – 6 December 1855), was an English ornithologist, Malacology, malacologist, Conchology, conchologist, entomologist and artist. Life Swains ...

in 1832. A comprehensive

molecular phylogenetic Molecular phylogenetics () is the branch of phylogeny that analyzes genetic, hereditary molecular differences, predominantly in DNA sequences, to gain information on an organism's evolutionary relationships. From these analyses, it is possible to ...

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 ''Garrulax rufifrons'' ...

'' 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 species ...

'' and ''

Ianthocincla ''Ianthocincla'' is a genus of passerine birds in the family Leiothrichidae. Taxonomy The genus ''Ianthocincla'' was erected by English ornithologist and bird artist John Gould in 1835 with the spotted laughingthrush as the type species. The nam ...

'' 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 laughingthrush 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 ...

''. 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 patrician, zoologist and museum director. Biography Coenraad Jacob Temminck was born on 31 March 1778 in Amsterdam in the Dutch Republic. From his father, Jacob ...

, 1836. The cladogram below showing the phylogenetic relationship of the Leiothrichidae to other families 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 * ''

Cutia :''The agoutis of the genus '' Dasyprocta'' are locally known as "cutias". See also Hutia, where the name for these rodents originated.'' The cutias are the passerine bird genus ''Cutia'' in the family Leiothrichidae. These birds are found in mon ...

'' – cutias (2 species) * ''

Laniellus ''Laniellus'' is a genus of passerine birds in the family Leiothrichidae. Taxonomy These species were both formerly placed in the genus ''Crocias'' but under the rules of the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature ''Laniellus'' Swainson ...

'' – 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'' m ...

'' – laughingthrushes (19 species) * ''

Actinodura The barwings are the genus ''Actinodura'' of passerine birds in the family Leiothrichidae. They are found in the hills of Southern Asia, from Eastern India to China and Taiwan. Taxonomy The genus ''Actinodura'' was introduced in 1836 by the Engl ...

'' – barwings and minlas (9 species) * ''

Montecincla ''Montecincla'' is a genus of passerine birds in the family Leiothrichidae. All four species in this genus are endemic to “sky islands” in the Western Ghats mountain range of southwestern India India, officially the Republic of In ...

'' – laughingthrushes (4 species) * '' Minla'' – red-tailed minla * '' Leioptila'' – rufous-backed sibia * '' Leiothrix'' – (2 species) * '' Liocichla'' - liocichlas (5 species) * '' Heterophasia'' - sibias (7 species) * ''

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

'' – babblers (19 species) * ''

'' – laughingthrushes (14 species) * ''

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

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

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1951184 Bird families Sylvioidea Birds of Asia