Laticilla is a genus of small passerine birds in the family Pellorneidae. Members of the genus are found in Pakistan, Nepal, India and Bangladesh.
| Laticilla | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Rufous-vented grass babbler, Laticilla burnesii | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Passeriformes |
| Family: | Pellorneidae |
| Genus: | Laticilla Blyth, 1845 |
| Type species | |
| Eurycercus burnesii[1] Blyth, 1844 | |
A molecular phylogenetic study of the Cisticolidae published in 2013 found that the rufous-vented grass babbler did not lie within the clade containing the other prinias but instead belonged to the Pellorneidae.[2] To create monophyletic genera, the rufous-vented prinia and the closely related swamp grass babbler were placed in the reintroduced genus Laticilla in the Pellorneidae.[3] The genus Laticilla had been erected by the English zoologist Edward Blyth in 1845 with the rufous-vented prinia as the type species. The genus replaced Eurycercus that Blyth had introduced in 1844 only to subsequently discover that the name was preoccupied.[4][5] The name Laticilla comes from the Latin latus for "wide" or "broad" and cilla for "tail".[6]
Species
The genus contains the following species:[3]
| Image | Common Name | Scientific name | Distribution |
|---|---|---|---|
_(24769757207).jpg) | Rufous-vented grass babbler | Laticilla burnesii | Pakistan, northwestern India and Nepal. |
| Swamp grass babbler | Laticilla cinerascens | state of Assam, India, and in nearby parts of northern Bangladesh |