''Cercomacra'' is a
genus
Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...
of
passerine
A passerine () is any bird of the order Passeriformes (; from Latin 'sparrow' and '-shaped'), which includes more than half of all bird species. Sometimes known as perching birds, passerines are distinguished from other orders of birds by t ...
birds in the family
Thamnophilidae
The antbirds are a large passerine bird family, Thamnophilidae, found across subtropical and tropical Central and South America, from Mexico to Argentina. There are more than 230 species, known variously as antshrikes, antwrens, antvireos, fire ...
.
The genus was erected by the English zoologist
Philip Sclater
Philip Lutley Sclater (4 November 1829 – 27 June 1913) was an England, English lawyer and zoologist. In zoology, he was an expert ornithologist, and identified the main zoogeographic regions of the world. He was Secretary of the Zoological ...
in 1858. The
type species
In zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the species that contains the biological type specimen ...
was subsequently designated as the
Rio de Janeiro antbird.
The genus contains seven species:
*
Manu antbird (''Cercomacra manu'')
*
Rio de Janeiro antbird (''Cercomacra brasiliana'')
*
Grey antbird (''Cercomacra cinerascens'')
*
Mato Grosso antbird (''Cercomacra melanaria'')
*
Bananal antbird
The bananal antbird (''Cercomacra ferdinandi'') is a species of bird in the family Thamnophilidae. It is endemic to the wetlands of the central Araguaia river in Brazil, and has one of the smallest ranges of any Amazon bird.
Habitat
Its natural ...
(''Cercomacra ferdinandi'')
*
Jet antbird (''Cercomacra nigricans'')
*
Rio Branco antbird
The Rio Branco antbird (''Cercomacra carbonaria'') is a bird species in the family Thamnophilidae. It is found in Brazil ( Roraima) and Guyana. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical mo ...
(''Cercomacra carbonaria'')
The genus formerly included additional species but when a
molecular phylogenetic
Molecular phylogenetics () is the branch of phylogeny that analyzes genetic, hereditary molecular differences, predominantly in DNA sequences, to gain information on an organism's evolutionary relationships. From these analyses, it is possible to ...
study published in 2014 found that ''Cercomacra'' was
polyphyletic
A polyphyletic group is an assemblage of organisms or other evolving elements that is of mixed evolutionary origin. The term is often applied to groups that share similar features known as homoplasies, which are explained as a result of converg ...
the genus was split to create two
monophyletic
In cladistics for a group of organisms, monophyly is the condition of being a clade—that is, a group of taxa composed only of a common ancestor (or more precisely an ancestral population) and all of its lineal descendants. Monophyletic gro ...
genera and six species were moved to the newly erected genus ''
Cercomacroides
''Cercomacroides'' is a genus of passerine birds in the family Thamnophilidae.
The genus contains six species:
* Willis's antbird (''Cercomacroides laeta'')
* Parker's antbird (''Cercomacroides parkeri'')
* Blackish antbird (''Cercomacroides ...
''.
References
Taxa named by Philip Sclater
Taxonomy articles created by Polbot
{{Thamnophilidae-stub