NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Blue-crowned Laughingthrush
Pterorhinus courtoisi (Ménégaux, 1923)
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 blue-crowned laughingthrush or Courtois's laughingbird (Pterorhinus courtoisi) is a species of bird in the family Leiothrichidae. It is now found only in Jiangxi, China. Until recently, this critically endangered species was generally treated as a subspecies of the yellow-throated laughingthrush, but that species has a pale grey (not bluish) crown.
The blue-crowned laughingthrush was formerly placed in the genus Garrulax but following the publication of a comprehensive molecular phylogenetic study in 2018, it was moved to the resurrected genus Pterorhinus. The specific name was chosen to honour the French missionary to China Frédéric Courtois (1860–1928).
Wikipedia contributors, Blue-crowned laughingthrush; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T08:03:59.998358+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Pterorhinus courtoisi (Ménégaux, 1923)
- Name authority
- (Ménégaux, 1923)
- Common name
- Blue-crowned Laughingthrush
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Aves
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Leiothrichidae
- Genus
- Pterorhinus
- 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
- genusPterorhinus Swinhoe, 1868
- speciesPterorhinus courtoisi (Ménégaux, 1923)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Pterorhinus. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Black-throated LaughingthrushPterorhinus chinensis (Scopoli, 1786) | LeiothrichidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Yellow-throated LaughingthrushPterorhinus galbanus (Godwin-Austen, 1874) | LeiothrichidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Chinese BabaxPterorhinus lanceolatus J. Verreaux, 1871 | LeiothrichidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Chestnut-backed LaughingthrushPterorhinus nuchalis (Godwin-Austen, 1876) | LeiothrichidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Masked LaughingthrushPterorhinus perspicillatus (J. F. Gmelin, 1789) | LeiothrichidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Rusty LaughingthrushPterorhinus poecilorhynchus (Gould, 1863) | LeiothrichidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Rufous-necked LaughingthrushPterorhinus ruficollis (Jardine & Selby, 1838) | LeiothrichidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| White-browed LaughingthrushPterorhinus sannio (Swinhoe, 1867) | LeiothrichidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| White-cheeked LaughingthrushPterorhinus vassali (Ogilvie-Grant, 1906) | LeiothrichidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Giant BabaxPterorhinus waddelli (Dresser, 1905) | LeiothrichidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Mount Victoria BabaxPterorhinus woodi (Finn, 1902) | 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 |
|---|---|
| Garrulax courtoisi Ménégaux, 1923 Ménégaux, 1923 | 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=1282097 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:SKL8Z. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.