Geokichla Explained

The Geokichla thrushes are medium-sized mostly insectivorous or omnivorous birds in the thrush family, Turdidae. They were traditionally listed in the Zoothera, but molecular phylogenetic studies published in 2008 led to their placement in a separate genus.

Taxonomy

The genus Geokichla was introduced in 1836 by the German naturalist Salomon Müller with Turdus citrinus Latham, 1790, the orange-headed thrush, as the type species.^{[1] [2] [3]} The genus name combines the Ancient Greek geō- meaning "ground-" with kikhlē meaning "thrush.^[4]

These species were formerly placed in the genus Zoothera. Molecular phylogenetic analysis by Gary Voelker and collaborators published in 2008 found that Zoothera was polyphyletic.^{[5] [6]} To create monophyletic genera 21 species were moved from Zoothera to the resurrected genus Geokichla.

List of species

The genus contains the following 21 species:^[7]

• Siberian thrush, Geokichla sibirica
• Pied thrush, Geokichla wardii
• Grey ground thrush, Geokichla princei
• Black-eared ground thrush, Geokichla camaronensis
• Spotted ground thrush, Geokichla guttata - formerly G. fischeri
• Spot-winged thrush, Geokichla spiloptera
• Crossley's ground thrush, Geokichla crossleyi
• Abyssinian ground thrush, Geokichla piaggiae
  • Kivu ground thrush, Geokichla piaggiae tanganjicae
• Oberländer's ground thrush, Geokichla oberlaenderi
• Orange ground thrush, Geokichla gurneyi
• Orange-headed thrush, Geokichla citrina
• Buru thrush, Geokichla dumasi
• Seram thrush, Geokichla joiceyi
• Orange-sided thrush, Geokichla peronii
• Slaty-backed thrush, Geokichla schistacea
• Chestnut-capped thrush, Geokichla interpres
• Enggano thrush, Geokichla leucolaema
• Chestnut-backed thrush, Geokichla dohertyi
• Ashy thrush, Geokichla cinerea
• Red-backed thrush, Geokichla erythronota
• Red-and-black thrush, Geokichla mendeni

A subfossil specimen of a ground thrush has been found on the island of Mauritius:^[8]

• Mauritius ground thrush, Geokichla longitarsus

External links

• Asian thrush videos on the Internet Bird Collection

Notes and References

1. Müller . Salomon . Salomon Müller . 1836 . Aanteekeningen, over de natuurlijke gesteldheid van een gedeelte der westkust en binnenlanden van Sumatra, met bijvoeging van eenige waarnemingen en beschrijvingen van verscheidene op dit, en andere Sunda-eilanden voorkomende dieren . Dutch . Tijdschrift voor Natuurlijke Geschiedenis en Physiologie . 2 . 315–355 [348–349] . >
2. Book: Mayr . Ernst . Ernst Mayr . Paynter . Raymond A. Jr . 1964 . Check-List of Birds of the World . 10 . Museum of Comparative Zoology . Cambridge, Massachusetts . 144 .
3. Book: Dickinson . E.C. . Edward C. Dickinson . Christidis . L. . Leslie Christidis . 2014 . The Howard & Moore Complete Checklist of the Birds of the World . 2: Passerines . 4th . Eastbourne, UK . Aves Press . 978-0-9568611-2-2 . 619 .
4. Book: Jobling, James A. . 2010. The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names . Christopher Helm . London . 978-1-4081-2501-4 . 172 .
5. Voelker . G. . Klicka . J. . 2008 . Systematics of Zoothera thrushes and a synthesis of true thrush molecular relationships . Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution . 49 . 1. 377–381 . 10.1016/j.ympev.2008.06.014 . 18639642 .
6. Voelker . G. . Outlaw . R.K. . 2008 . Establishing a perimeter position: speciation around the Indian Ocean Basin . Journal of Evolutionary Biology . 21 . 6. 1779–1788 . 10.1111/j.1420-9101.2008.01588.x . free. 18691238 .
7. Web site: Gill . Frank . Frank Gill (ornithologist) . Donsker . David . Rasmussen . Pamela . Pamela C. Rasmussen . July 2023 . Thrushes . IOC World Bird List Version 13.2 . International Ornithologists' Union . 13 December 2023 .
8. Hume . J.P. . 2022 . A new subfossil ground thrush (Turdidae: Geokichla) from Mauritius, Mascarene Islands . Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club . 142 . 4 . 388–403 . 10.25226/bboc.v142i4.2022.a2 . 254367025. free .