These are birds of tropical areas, with the greatest variety in Southeast Asia and the Indian subcontinent.

Most have predominantly brown plumage, with minimal difference between the sexes, but many more brightly coloured species also exist.

[1] The family Leiothrichidae was introduced (as a subfamily Leiotrichanae) by the English naturalist William Swainson in 1832.

[2] A comprehensive molecular phylogenetic study of the family published in 2018 led to substantial revision of the taxonomic classification.

[3] The laughingthrushes in the genus Garrulax were found to belong to three separate clades that had diverged in the Miocene 7-9 million year ago.