Turdoides

Turdoides
Brown babbler (Turdoides plebejus)
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Leiothrichidae
Genus: Turdoides
Cretzschmar, 1826
Type species
Turdoides leucocephala (white-headed babbler)
Species

See list

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 species have drab brown or grey-brown plumage. Several species that were included in Turdoides in the past have been reassigned to Argya following a 2018 study that found multiple clades.[1]

The genus Turdoides was introduced in 1826 by the German physician Philipp Jakob Cretzschmar specifically for the white-headed babbler.[2] The name combines the thrush genus Turdus with the Ancient Greek -oidēs meaning "resembling".[3]

  1. ^ Cibois, Alice; Gelang, Magnus; Alström, Per; Pasquet, Eric; Fjeldså, Jon; Ericson, Per G. P.; Olsson, Urban (2018). "Comprehensive phylogeny of the laughingthrushes and allies (Aves, Leiothrichidae) and a proposal for a revised taxonomy". Zoologica Scripta. 47 (4): 428–440. doi:10.1111/zsc.12296. S2CID 51883434.
  2. ^ Cretzschmar, Philipp Jakob (1826). "Vögel". In Rüppell, Eduard (ed.). Atlas zu der Reise im nördlichen Afrika (in German). Vol. 1826–1828. Frankfurt am Main: Heinr. Ludw. Brönner. pp. 1–55 [6–7, plate 4].
  3. ^ Jobling, James A. (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. p. 392. ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4.