Melanocichla
Genus of birds
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Melanocichla is a genus of birds in the Old World babbler family Timaliidae.
| Melanocichla | |
|---|---|
| |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Passeriformes |
| Family: | Timaliidae |
| Genus: | Melanocichla Sharpe, 1883 |
| Type species | |
| Timalia lugubris (black laughingthrush) S. Müller, 1835 | |
| Species | |
|
see text | |
Taxonomy
The genus Melanocichla was introduced in 1883 by the English ornithologist Richard Bowdler Sharpe to accommodate a single species, the black laughingthrush, which is therefore the type species of the genus.[1][2] The name combines the Ancient Greek melas meaning "black" with kikhlkikhlē meaning "thrush".[3]
A 2019 molecular phylogenetic study found that the genus Melanocichla was sister to the genus Pomatorhinus containing the scimitar babblers.[4]
Species
The genus contains the following species:[5]
| Image | Common name | Scientific name | Distribution |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Black laughingthrush | Melanocichla lugubris | extreme south Thailand, Malaysia and Sumatra |
 | Bare-headed laughingthrush | Melanocichla calva | Borneo |
