NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
East Coast Boubou
Laniarius sublacteus (Cassin, 1851)
Source-backed taxonomic record
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Open encyclopedia reference
The East Coast boubou or Zanzibar boubou (Laniarius sublacteus) is a species of bird in the family Malaconotidae.
It is found from southeast Somalia to northeast Tanzania, and Zanzibar island.
Its natural habitat is moist savanna.
It has vestigial or no white wing stripe. Outer tail feathers may have white tips. Juveniles have no barring on underside. An all-black morph occurs in the area around the lower Jubba and Tana Rivers and on the Lamu Archipelago.
The East Coast boubou was formerly lumped with the tropical boubou, the black boubou, and the Ethiopian boubou. The species complex was split based on the results of a molecular phylogenetic study published in 2008.
Wikipedia contributors, East Coast boubou; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T08:09:06.560090+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Laniarius sublacteus (Cassin, 1851)
- Name authority
- (Cassin, 1851)
- Common name
- East Coast Boubou
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Aves
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Malaconotidae
- Genus
- Laniarius
- Extinction status
- Recorded extant
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- megaclassTetrapoda
- classAves
- orderPasseriformes
- familyMalaconotidae Swainson, 1824
- genusLaniarius Vieillot, 1816
- speciesLaniarius sublacteus (Cassin, 1851)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Laniarius. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Ethiopian BoubouLaniarius aethiopicus (J. F. Gmelin, 1789) | MalaconotidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Crimson-breasted ShrikeLaniarius atrococcineus (Burchell, 1822) | MalaconotidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Yellow-crowned GonolekLaniarius barbarus (Linnaeus, 1766) | MalaconotidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Braun's BushshrikeLaniarius brauni Bannerman, 1939 | MalaconotidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Fülleborn's BoubouLaniarius fuelleborni (Reichenow, 1900) | MalaconotidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Lühder's BushshrikeLaniarius luehderi Reichenow, 1874 | MalaconotidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Tropical BoubouLaniarius major (Hartlaub, 1848) | MalaconotidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Papyrus GonolekLaniarius mufumbiri Ogilvie-Grant, 1911 | MalaconotidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Red-naped BushshrikeLaniarius ruficeps (Shelley, 1885) | MalaconotidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Turati's BoubouLaniarius turatii (J. Verreaux, 1858) | MalaconotidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Yellow-breasted BoubouLaniarius atroflavus Shelley, 1887 | MalaconotidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Albertine Sooty BoubouLaniarius holomelas (F. J. Jackson, 1906) | MalaconotidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Laniarius aethiopicus somaliensis Reichenow, 1905 Reichenow, 1905 | synonym |
| Laniarius sublacteus somaliensis Reichenow, 1905 Reichenow, 1905 | synonym |
| Laniarius sublacteus sublacteus (Cassin, 1851) (Cassin, 1851) | synonym |
| Dryoscopus sublacteus Cassin, 1851 Cassin, 1851 | synonym |
Documented distribution
Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=916270 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:3S76X. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.