Myrmothera | |
---|---|
Thrush-like antpitta (Myrmothera campanisona) | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Aves |
Order: | Passeriformes |
Family: | Grallariidae |
Genus: | Myrmothera Vieillot, 1816 |
Type species | |
Myrmornis campanisona[1] Hermann, 1783
|
Myrmothera is a genus of birds belonging to the antpitta family Grallariidae that are found in Middle and South America.
The genus was established in 1816 by the French ornithologist Louis Pierre Vieillot.[2] The type species was subsequently designated by Philip Sclater in 1890 as the thrush-like antpitta.[3][4]
The genus contains 6 species:[5]
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.[6][7] Based on DNA analysis, the genus is considered to be a sister taxon to the genus Hylopezus.[8] The name Myrmothera is a compound word created from the Greek words murmos, meaning "ant" and -theras, meaning "hunter" (from therao, meaning "to hunt).[9]