NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Ashambu Laughingthrush
Montecincla meridionalis (Blanford, 1880)
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 Ashambu laughingthrush or Travancore laughingthrush (Montecincla meridionalis) is a species of bird in the family Leiothrichidae. It is found in the Western Ghats in southern Kerala and southern Tamil Nadu. It was formerly considered a subspecies of the grey-breasted laughingthrush. It is closely related to the Palani laughingthrush and can be differentiated from it by its very short white brow that stops before the eye.
The species is found in the high hills and is part of a complex of several species which are thought to have speciated by being isolated in the cool tops of the higher hills of southern India as the climate became warmer. Earlier included in other genera, they were placed in a newly established genus in 2017.
Wikipedia contributors, Ashambu laughingthrush; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T07:52:53.575866+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Montecincla meridionalis (Blanford, 1880)
- Name authority
- (Blanford, 1880)
- Common name
- Ashambu Laughingthrush
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Aves
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Leiothrichidae
- Genus
- Montecincla
- 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
- familyLeiothrichidae Swainson, 1832
- genusMontecincla Robin, Vishnudas, Gupta, Rheindt, Hooper, Ramakrishnan & Reddy, 2017
- speciesMontecincla meridionalis (Blanford, 1880)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Montecincla. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Nilgiri LaughingthrushMontecincla cachinnans (Jerdon, 1839) | LeiothrichidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Palani LaughingthrushMontecincla fairbanki (Blanford, 1869) | LeiothrichidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Trochalopteron meridionale Blanford, 1880 Blanford, 1880 | synonym |
| Trochalopteron fairbanki meridionale Blanford, 1880 Blanford, 1880 | 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=1282061 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:QLCT8. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.