Pterorhinus is a genus of passerine birds in the laughingthrush family Leiothrichidae.
Etymology The name of the genus combines the Ancient Greek pteron meaning "feather" with rhinos meaning "nostrils".
Taxonomy The genus was erected by the English zoologist Robert Swinhoe in 1868 with the plain laughingthrush (Pterorhinus davidi) as the type species.
These species were at one time placed in Garrulax. In 2007, the genus Pterorhinus was resurrected to include Pterorhinus sannio and the type species Pterorhinus davidi. Following the publication of a molecular phylogenetic study in 2018, Garrulax was further split up and more species were moved to the genus Pterorhinus. At the same time, the four species previously placed in Babax were also moved to Pterorhinus.
Species The genus contains 23 species:
Image Scientific name Common name Distribution Pterorhinus albogularisWhite-throated laughingthrush Himalayas and China Pterorhinus berthemyi Buffy laughingthrush China Pterorhinus caerulatus Grey-sided laughingthrush eastern Himalayas Pterorhinus chinensis Black-throated laughingthrush Indochina and southern China Pterorhinus courtoisi Blue-crowned laughingthrush China Pterorhinus davidi Plain laughingthrush China Pterorhinus delesserti Wayanad laughingthrush Western Ghats Pterorhinus galbanus Yellow-throated laughingthrush Purvanchal Range Pterorhinus gularis Rufous-vented laughingthrush Eastern Himalaya and Laos Pterorhinus koslowi Tibetan babax eastern Tibet Pterorhinus lanceolatusChinese babax China Pterorhinus mitratusChestnut-capped laughingthrush montane Malay peninsula and Sumatra Pterorhinus nuchalisChestnut-backed laughingthrush northeast India and northern Myanmar Pterorhinus parspicillatusMasked laughingthrush China and Vietnam Pterorhinus pectoralisGreater necklaced laughingthrush China, eastern Himalayas and northern Indochina Pterorhinus poecilorhynchus Rusty laughingthrush Taiwan Pterorhinus ruficeps Rufous-crowned laughingthrush Taiwan Pterorhinus ruficollis Rufous-necked laughingthrush Nepal, eastern Himalaya, Myanmar Pterorhinus sannio White-browed laughingthrush China, northeast India and northern Indochina Pterorhinus treacheri Chestnut-hooded laughingthrush montane Borneo Pterorhinus vassali White-cheeked laughingthrush southern Laos and Vietnam Pterorhinus waddelli Giant babax northeast India and southern Tibet Pterorhinus woodi Mount Victoria babax Lushai and Chin hills
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.