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Myrmothera

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Taxonomy

The genus was established in 1816 by the French ornithologist Louis Pierre Vieillot. The type species was subsequently designated by Philip Sclater in 1890 as the thrush-like antpitta.

The genus contains 6 species:

  • White-lored antpitta (Myrmothera fulviventris) (formerly in Hylopezus)
  • Amazonian antpitta (Myrmothera berlepschi) (formerly in Hylopezus)
  • Thicket antpitta (Myrmothera dives) (formerly in Hylopezus)
  • Tepui antpitta (Myrmothera simplex)
  • Thrush-like antpitta (Myrmothera campanisona)
  • Tapajos antpitta (Myrmothera subcanescens)

Some other taxonomies, including those followed by the Integrated Taxonomic Information System and Handbook of Birds of the World, consider the Tapajos antpitta to be a subspecies of the thrush-like antpitta. Based on DNA analysis, the genus is considered to be a sister taxon to the genus Hylopezus. The name Myrmothera is a compound word created from the Greek words murmos, meaning "ant" and -theras, meaning "hunter" (from therao, meaning "to hunt).

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Monotypic taxonTaxonomic group with only one subordinate taxonSpecies descriptionFormal description of a discovered speciesParaphylyType of taxonomic groupIUCN Red ListInventory of the global conservation status of biological speciesSubtropicsGeographic and climate zoneCommon nameName generally used for a taxon, group of taxa or organism(s)