The Palani laughingthrush
This species was described from the Kodaikanal region on the basis of a specimen obtained by Rev. Samuel Bacon Fairbank and came to be called the Pulney laughing-thrush.The lack of the black chin of jerdoni was noted even when this species was first described but it was made into a subspecies under jerdoni in the second edition of The Fauna of British India, Including Ceylon and Burma in 1922 by Stuart Baker. In 1880 Blanford described meridionale based on a specimen obtained by F. W. Bourdillon.The close relationship of meridionale and fairbanki was noticed by William Ruxton Davison in 1883. The current regrouping of the forms, considering the Palghat Gap as a biogeographic barrier and giving importance to the chin colour, was introduced in 2005 by Pamela C. Rasmussen and Anderton. A study published in 2017 found that the species was best placed in a new genus Montecincla and that based on the divergence, meridionale is best treated as a full species.
The Palani laughingthrush
This species was described from the Kodaikanal region on the basis of a specimen obtained by Rev. Samuel Bacon Fairbank and came to be called the Pulney laughing-thrush.The lack of the black chin of jerdoni was noted even when this species was first described but it was made into a subspecies under jerdoni in the second edition of The Fauna of British India, Including Ceylon and Burma in 1922 by Stuart Baker. In 1880 Blanford described meridionale based on a specimen obtained by F. W. Bourdillon.The close relationship of meridionale and fairbanki was noticed by William Ruxton Davison in 1883. The current regrouping of the forms, considering the Palghat Gap as a biogeographic barrier and giving importance to the chin colour, was introduced in 2005 by Pamela C. Rasmussen and Anderton. A study published in 2017 found that the species was best placed in a new genus Montecincla and that based on the divergence, meridionale is best treated as a full species.