The variegated antpitta (''Grallaria varia'') is a species of bird in the family Grallariidae. It is found in southeastern Brazil, eastern Paraguay, the

Guianas The Guianas, sometimes called by the Spanish loan-word ''Guayanas'' (''Las Guayanas''), is a region in north-eastern South America which includes the following three territories: * French Guiana, an overseas department and region of France * ...

and the northern

Amazon Basin The Amazon basin is the part of South America drained by the Amazon River and its tributaries. The Amazon drainage basin covers an area of about , or about 35.5 percent of the South American continent. It is located in the countries of Bolivi ...

. Its range extends to Venezuela in the northwest; in the

, it is found in the downstream half of the basin, as well as in the Atlantic outlet region of the neighboring Tocantins-

Araguaia River The Araguaia River ( pt, Rio Araguaia , Karajá: ♂ ''Berohokỹ'' eɾohoˈkə̃ ♀ ''Bèrakuhukỹ'' ɛɾakuhuˈkə̃ is one of the major rivers of Brazil though it is almost equal in volume at its confluence with the Tocantins. It has a total ...

drainage to the southeast. A minor disjunct population is in Peru, and an Argentinian population is found in the tongue of land between Paraguay and southern Brazil. Its natural habitats are

subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests (TSMF), also known as tropical moist forest, is a subtropical and tropical forest habitat type defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature. Description TSMF is generally found in large, discont ...

and subtropical or tropical moist montane forest.

Taxonomy

The variegated antpitta was described by the French polymath Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon in 1780 in his '' Histoire Naturelle des Oiseaux'' from a specimen collected in

Cayenne Cayenne (; ; gcr, Kayenn) is the capital city of French Guiana, an overseas region and Overseas department, department of France located in South America. The city stands on a former island at the mouth of the Cayenne River on the Atlantic Oc ...

, French Guiana. The bird was also illustrated in a hand-coloured plate engraved by François-Nicolas Martinet in the ''Planches Enluminées D'Histoire Naturelle'' which was produced under the supervision of Edme-Louis Daubenton to accompany Buffon's text. Neither the plate caption nor Buffon's description included a scientific name but in 1783 the Dutch naturalist Pieter Boddaert coined the

binomial name In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...

''Formicarius varius'' in his catalogue of the ''Planches Enluminées''. The variegated antpitta is now placed in the genus '' Grallaria'' that was introduced by the French ornithologist Louis Jean Pierre Vieillot in 1816. The genus name is from New Latin ''grallarius'' meaning "stilt-walker". The specific epithet ''varia'' is from Latin ''varius'' meaning "various", "diverse" or "variegated". Five

subspecies In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species ...

are recognised: * ''G. v. cinereiceps''

Hellmayr Carl Eduard Hellmayr (29 January 1878 in Vienna, Austria – 24 February 1944 in Orselina, Switzerland) was an Austrian ornithologist. Biography Hellmayr was born in Vienna and studied at the University of Vienna, although he did not complete hi ...

, 1903 – south Venezuela, northwest Brazil and northeast Peru * ''G. v. varia'' ( Boddaert, 1783) – east Venezuela, the Guianas and northeast Brazil * ''G. v. distincta''

Todd Todd or Todds may refer to: Places ;Australia: * Todd River, an ephemeral river ;United States: * Todd Valley, California, also known as Todd, an unincorporated community * Todd, Missouri, a ghost town * Todd, North Carolina, an unincorporated ...

, 1927 – central Brazil * ''G. v. intercedens'' von Berlepsch & Leverkühn, 1890 – east Brazil * ''G. v. imperator'' Lafresnaye, 1842 – southeast Brazil, east Paraguay and northeast Argentina

References

External links

Xeno-canto: audio recordings of the variegated antpitta
VIREO ttp://vireo.acnatsci.org/species_image.php?species=Grallaria+varia Photo-High Res* ttp://fm2.fieldmuseum.org/rbi/gallery_peru12_photos/8D.jpg Photo-High Resbr>Article
fieldmuseum.org–"Rapid Biological Inventories"
Graphic-Medium Res & Article
www.sib.gov.ar/fichas/fauna {{Taxonbar, from=Q1027866 variegated antpitta Birds of the Amazon Basin Birds of the Atlantic Forest Birds of the Guianas variegated antpitta Taxonomy articles created by Polbot