A laughingthrush endemic to India's southwestern Western Ghats. A 2026 mountain survey recorded it in shola forest at the sites studied.
It is dull olive-brown above with a grey-brown crown, white supercilium, grey cheek and upper breast, black throat, and rusty-chestnut flanks and vent.
A 2026 study at Camel's Hump, Banasura and Brahmagiri recorded the species in shola forest, but not in the high-elevation grassland plots sampled.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.