''Pterorhinus'' 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 laughingthrush family

Leiothrichidae The laughingthrushes are a family, Leiothrichidae, of Old World passerine birds. The family contains 133 species and is divided into 16 genera. The species are diverse in size and coloration. These are birds of tropical areas, with the greatest v ...

Taxonomy

The genus was erected by the English zoologist

Robert Swinhoe Robert Swinhoe FRS (1 September 1836 – 28 October 1877) was an English diplomat and naturalist who worked as a Consul in Qing-era Taiwan (then known to Westerners as Formosa). He catalogued many Southeast Asian birds, and several, such as ...

in 1868 with the plain laughingthrush (''Pterorhinus davidi'') as the

type species In International_Code_of_Zoological_Nomenclature, zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the spe ...

. The name of the genus combines the

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...

''pteron'' meaning "feather" with ''rhinos'' meaning "nostrils". These

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), ...

were at one time placed in ''

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'' ...

'' but following the publication of a

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 in 2018, ''Garrulax'' was split up and some of the species were moved to the resurrected genus ''Pterorhinus''. At the same time, the four species previously placed in ''Babax'' were moved here.

Species

The genus contains 23 species: * Rufous-necked laughingthrush, ''Pterorhinus ruficollis'' * Chestnut-backed laughingthrush, ''Pterorhinus nuchalis'' * Black-throated laughingthrush, ''Pterorhinus chinensis'' * Chestnut-capped laughingthrush, ''Pterorhinus mitratus'' * Chestnut-hooded laughingthrush, ''Pterorhinus treacheri'' *

White-cheeked laughingthrush The white-cheeked laughingthrush (''Pterorhinus vassali'') is a species of bird in the family Leiothrichidae. It is found in Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tro ...

, ''Pterorhinus vassali'' * Yellow-throated laughingthrush, ''Pterorhinus galbanus'' *

Blue-crowned laughingthrush The blue-crowned laughingthrush or Courtois's laughingbird (''Pterorhinus courtoisi'') is a species of bird in the family Leiothrichidae. It is now found only in Jiangxi, China. Until recently, this critically endangered species was generally tre ...

, ''Pterorhinus courtoisi'' – split from ''P. galbanus'' * Rufous-vented laughingthrush, ''Pterorhinus gularis'' * Wayanad laughingthrush, ''Pterorhinus delesserti'' * White-throated laughingthrush, ''Pterorhinus albogularis'' * Rufous-crowned laughingthrush, ''Pterorhinus ruficeps'' * Plain laughingthrush, ''Pterorhinus davidi'' * Greater necklaced laughingthrush, ''Pterorhinus pectoralis'' * Rusty laughingthrush, ''Pterorhinus poecilorhynchus'' * Grey-sided laughingthrush, ''Pterorhinus caerulatus'' * Buffy laughingthrush, ''Pterorhinus berthemyi'' * Chinese babax, ''Pterorhinus lanceolatus'' – moved from ''Babax'' * Mount Victoria babax, ''Pterorhinus woodi'' – moved from ''Babax'' * Giant babax, ''Pterorhinus waddelli'' – moved from ''Babax'' * Tibetan babax, ''Pterorhinus koslowi'' – moved from ''Babax'' * White-browed laughingthrush, ''Pterorhinus sannio'' * Masked laughingthrush, ''Pterorhinus perspicillatus''

References

* Collar, N. J. & Robson, C. 2007. Family Timaliidae (Babblers) pp. 70 – 291 in; del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A. & Christie, D.A. eds. ''

Handbook of the Birds of the World The ''Handbook of the Birds of the World'' (HBW) is a multi-volume series produced by the Spanish publishing house Lynx Edicions in partnership with BirdLife International. It is the first handbook to cover every known living species of bird. ...

'', Vol. 12. Picathartes to Tits and Chickadees. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. Bird genera Leiothrichidae Taxa named by Robert Swinhoe {{Sylvioidea-stub