Genus of birds
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. To create monophyletic genera 21 species were moved from "Zoothera" to the resurrected genus "Geokichla".
List of species.
The genus contains the following 21 species:
A subfossil specimen of a ground thrush has been found on the island of Mauritius:
References.
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