''Malacocincla'' is a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

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 ...

birds in the family

Pellorneidae The ground babblers are a family, Pellorneidae, of mostly Old World passerine birds belonging to the superfamily Sylvioidea. They are quite diverse in size and coloration, and usually characterised by soft, fluffy plumage and a tail on average t ...

. The type species for this genus is ''M. abbotti'', and a 2012 study shows that members of the genus ''Malacocincla'' as defined earlier fall into multiple clades and are therefore polyphyletic. ''M. abbotti'' and ''M. sepiaria'' remain within a common clade and could be retained in the genus if generic reassignments occur. This clade is a sister of the genus ''Napothera''. ''M. cinereiceps'' and ''M. malaccensis'' fall into a different clade and are a sister to the genus ''Trichastoma'' and nested within several species of ''Pellorneum''. The position of ''M. perspicillata'' has not been resolved.

Species

The genus contains the following three species:

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q941239 Pellorneidae Bird genera Birds of Southeast Asia Taxa named by Edward Blyth Taxonomy articles created by Polbot