Garrulax Explained
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.[1] The type species was designated in 1961 as the rufous-fronted laughingthrush (Garrulax rufifrons).[2]
The genus previously included more species. Following the publication of a comprehensive molecular phylogenetic study in 2018, Garrulax was split up and species were moved to the resurrected genera Ianthocincla and Pterorhinus.[3] [4]
Garrulax species are heavily traded as songbirds. A survey of eight bird markets in Indonesia, carried out in 2014–2015, found 615 laughingthrushes of nine species openly for sale.[5] Much of the trade in these species in Indonesia is illegal and is pushing a number of these species towards extinction.[6] The Sumatran Laughingthrush, for example, is in serious decline due to ongoing and uncontrolled illegal trade in bird markets on the islands of Java and Sumatra, and is increasingly found in international trade, though in lower numbers.[7]
Species
The genus contains the following 14 species:[4]
| Image | Common Name | Scientific name | Distribution |
|---|
| | Garrulax monileger | Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, China, India, Laos, Myanmar, Nepal, Thailand, and Vietnam. |
| | Garrulax rufifrons | Java |
| | Garrulax leucolophus | India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, Cambodia, Myanmar, Laos, China, Vietnam, and Thailand. |
| | Garrulax milleti | Laos and Vietnam. |
| | Garrulax bicolor | Sumatra |
| | Garrulax strepitans | Yunnan, Laos, Myanmar and Thailand. |
| | Garrulax ferrarius | Cambodia. |
| | Garrulax maesi | southern China |
| | Garrulax castanotis | China, Laos, and Vietnam. |
| | Garrulax palliatus | Brunei, Indonesia, and Malaysia |
| | Garrulax canorus | south-eastern and central China and in northern and central Vietnam and Laos. |
| | Garrulax taewanus | Taiwan |
| | Garrulax merulinus | Yunnan, Northeast India, Laos, Myanmar, north-west Thailand, and northern Vietnam. |
| | Garrulax annamensis | Vietnam |
|
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, Vol. 12. Picathartes to Tits and Chickadees. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona.
Notes and References
- Book: Lesson, René . René Lesson . 1831 . Traité d'Ornithologie, ou Tableau Méthodique . 1 . French . Paris . F.G. Levrault . 647 .
- Book: Jobling, James A. . 2010. The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names . Christopher Helm . London . 978-1-4081-2501-4 . 171 .
- Cibois . A. . Gelang . M. . Alström . P. . Pasquet . E. . Fjeldså . J. . Ericson . P.G.P. . Olsson . U. . 2018 . Comprehensive phylogeny of the laughingthrushes and allies (Aves, Leiothrichidae) and a proposal for a revised taxonomy . Zoologica Scripta . 47 . 4 . 428–440 . 10.1111/zsc.12296 . 51883434 .
- Web site: Gill . Frank . Frank Gill (ornithologist) . Donsker . David . 2019 . Laughingthrushes and allies . World Bird List Version 9.1 . International Ornithologists' Union . 16 January 2019 .
- Shepherd . Chris R. . Eaton . James A. . Chng . Serene C. L. . 2016 . Nothing to laugh about – the ongoing illegal trade in laughingthrushes (Garrulax species) in the bird markets of Java, Indonesia . Bird Conservation International . en . 26 . 4 . 524–530 . 10.1017/S0959270916000320 . 88722096 . 0959-2709. subscription .
- Shepherd . Chris R. . 2010 . Observations on trade in laughingthrushes (Garrulax spp.) in North Sumatra, Indonesia . Bird Conservation International . en . 21 . 1 . 86–91 . 10.1017/S0959270910000274 . 0959-2709. free .
- Heinrich . Sarah . Leupen . Boyd T.C. . Bruslund . Simon . Owen . Andrew . Shepherd . Chris R. . 2021 . A case for better international protection of the Sumatran Laughingthrush (Garrulax bicolor) . Global Ecology and Conservation . en . 25 . e01414 . 10.1016/j.gecco.2020.e01414. 234330951 . free . 2021GEcoC..2501414H .
