Montecincla Explained

Montecincla is a genus of passerine birds in the family Leiothrichidae. All four species in this genus are endemic to “sky islands” in the Western Ghats mountain range of southwestern India, generally above 1,200m elevation.^[1]

Species

The genus contains the following species:^[2]

• Nilgiri laughingthrush, Montecincla cachinnans
• Palani laughingthrush, Montecincla fairbanki
• Banasura laughingthrush, Montecincla jerdoni
• Ashambu laughingthrush, Montecincla meridionalis

The four species are found on the tops of mountain ranges separated by deep valleys and are thought to have speciated during global warming. The two pairs separated by the Palghat Gap are estimated to have diverged more than 5 million years ago.

Notes and References

1. Robin . V.V. . Vishnudas . C.K. . Gupta . P. . Rheindt . F.E. . Hooper . D.M. . Ramakrishnan . U. . Reddy . S. . 2017 . Two new genera of songbirds represent endemic radiations from the Shola Sky Islands of the Western Ghats, India . BMC Evolutionary Biology . 17 . 31 . 1–14 . 10.1186/s12862-017-0882-6 . 28114902 . 5259981 . free.
2. Web site: Gill . Frank . Frank Gill (ornithologist) . Donsker . David . 2018 . Laughingthrushes and allies . World Bird List Version 8.1 . International Ornithologists' Union . 10 June 2018 .