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.
[>] The genus name combines the
Ancient Greek geō- meaning "ground-" with
kikhlē meaning "thrush.
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.[
]
List of species
The genus contains the following 21 species:
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Siberian thrush, Geokichla sibirica
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Pied thrush, Geokichla wardii
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Grey ground thrush, Geokichla princei
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Black-eared ground thrush, Geokichla camaronensis
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Spotted ground thrush, Geokichla guttata - formerly G. fischeri
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Spot-winged thrush, Geokichla spiloptera
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Crossley's ground thrush, Geokichla crossleyi
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Abyssinian ground thrush, Geokichla piaggiae
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Kivu ground thrush, Geokichla piaggiae tanganjicae
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Oberländer's ground thrush, Geokichla oberlaenderi
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Orange ground thrush, Geokichla gurneyi
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Orange-headed thrush, Geokichla citrina
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Buru thrush, Geokichla dumasi
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Seram thrush, Geokichla joiceyi
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Orange-sided thrush, Geokichla peronii
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Slaty-backed thrush, Geokichla schistacea
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Chestnut-capped thrush, Geokichla interpres
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Enggano thrush, Geokichla leucolaema
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Chestnut-backed thrush, Geokichla dohertyi
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Ashy thrush, Geokichla cinerea
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Red-backed thrush, Geokichla erythronota
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Red-and-black thrush, Geokichla mendeni
A subfossil specimen of a ground thrush has been found on the island of Mauritius:
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Mauritius ground thrush, Geokichla longitarsus
External links
