Laniarius

Taxobox
name = "Laniarus"

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image_width = 240px
image_caption = Yellow-crowned Gonolek "Laniarius barbarus"
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Aves
ordo = Passeriformes
familia = Malaconotidae
genus = "Laniarius"
genus_authority = Vieillot, 1816
subdivision_ranks = Species
subdivision = About 15-20, see text

"Laniarius" is a genus of brightly coloured, carnivorous passerine birds commonly known as boubous or gonoleks. Not to be confused with the similar-sounding genus "Lanius", they were formerly classed with the true shrikes in the family Laniidae, but they and related genera are now considered sufficiently distinctive to be separated from that group as the bush-shrike family Malaconotidae.

This is an African group of species which are found in scrub or open woodland. They are similar in habits to shrikes, hunting insects and other small prey from a perch on a bush. Although similar in build to the shrikes, these tend to be either colourful species or largely black; some species are quite secretive.

pecies

* Red-naped Bush-shrike, "Laniarius ruficeps".
* Luehder's Bush-shrike, "Laniarius luehderi".
* Gabela Bush-shrike or Amboim Bush-shrike, "Laniarius amboimensis".
* Orange-breasted Bush-shrike or Braun's Bush-shrike, "Laniarius brauni".
* Bulo Burti Boubou, "Laniarius liberatus" - until recently considered possibly extinct, but genetic evidence suggests it only is a morph of "L. (aethiopicus) erlangeri". [Nguembock, B., Fjeldså J., Couloux A., Pasquet, E. 2008. "Phylogeny of Laniarius: molecular data reveal L. liberatus synonymous with L. erlangeri and “plumage coloration” as unreliable morphological characters for defining species and species groups". Mol. Phyl. Evol. 48(2): 396-407. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2008.04.014 ]
* Turati's Boubou, "Laniarius turatii".
* Tropical Boubou, "Laniarius aethiopicus".
** Ethiopian Boubou, "Laniarius (a.) aethiopicus".
** West African Boubou, "Laniarius (aethiopicus) major".
** Somali Boubou, "Laniarius (aethiopicus) erlangeri" - includes the "Bulo Burti Boubou".
** Dimorphic Boubou, "Laniarius (aethiopicus) sublacteus".
* Gabon (or Swamp) Boubout, "Laniarius bicolor".
* Southern Boubou, "Laniarius ferrugineus".
* Yellow-crowned Gonolek, "Laniarius barbarus".
* Black-headed Gonolek, "Laniarius erythrogaster".
* Crimson-breasted Gonolek, "Laniarius atrococcineus".
* Papyrus Gonolek, "Laniarius mufumbiri".
* Yellow-breasted Boubou, "Laniarius atroflavus".
* Slate-colored Boubou, "Laniarius funebris".
* Sooty Boubou, "Laniarius leucorhynchus".
* Mountain Boubou, "Laniarius poensis".
* Fuelleborn's Boubou, "Laniarius fuelleborni".

References