''Myrmotherula'' is a genus of insectivorous passerine birds in the antbird family, Thamnophilidae. These are all small antbirds, measuring . The genus was erected by the English zoologist Philip Sclater in 1858. The type species is the

pygmy antwren The pygmy antwren (''Myrmotherula brachyura'') is a species of bird in subfamily Thamnophilinae of family Thamnophilidae, the "typical antbirds". It is found in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, and Vene ...

. The genus currently contains the following species: Streaked group: *

Moustached antwren The moustached antwren (''Myrmotherula ignota'') is a species of small Neotropical bird in subfamily Thamnophilinae of family Thamnophilidae, the "typical antbirds". It is found in Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Panama, and Peru. Taxonomy and s ...

(''Myrmotherula ignota'') *

Pygmy antwren The pygmy antwren (''Myrmotherula brachyura'') is a species of bird in subfamily Thamnophilinae of family Thamnophilidae, the "typical antbirds". It is found in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, and Vene ...

(''Myrmotherula brachyura'') *

Guianan streaked antwren The Guianan streaked antwren (''Myrmotherula surinamensis'') is a species of bird in subfamily Thamnophilinae of family Thamnophilidae, the "typical antbirds". It is found in Brazil, Colombia, French Guiana, Guyana, Suriname, and Venezuela.Rems ...

(''Myrmotherula surinamensis'') *

Amazonian streaked antwren The Amazonian streaked antwren (''Myrmotherula multostriata'') is a species of bird in the family Thamnophilidae. It is found in South America where its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropic ...

(''Myrmotherula multostriata'') *

Pacific antwren The Pacific antwren or Pacific streaked antwren (''Myrmotherula pacifica'') is a species of bird in subfamily Thamnophilinae of family Thamnophilidae, the "typical antbirds". It is found in Colombia, Ecuador and Panama. Taxonomy and systemati ...

(''Myrmotherula pacifica'') *

Cherrie's antwren Cherrie's antwren (''Myrmotherula cherriei'') is a species of bird in subfamily Thamnophilinae of family Thamnophilidae, the "typical antbirds". It is found in Brazil, Colombia, Peru, and Venezuela.Remsen, J. V., Jr., J. I. Areta, E. Bonaccors ...

(''Myrmotherula cherriei'') *

Klages's antwren Klages's antwren (''Myrmotherula klagesi'') is a species of bird in subfamily Thamnophilinae of family Thamnophilidae, the "typical antbirds". It is endemic to Brazil. Taxonomy and systematics Klages's antwren is monotypic. The species' Eng ...

(''Myrmotherula klagesi'') *

Stripe-chested antwren The stripe-chested antwren (''Myrmotherula longicauda'') is a species of bird in subfamily Thamnophilinae of family Thamnophilidae, the "typical antbirds". It is found in Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. Taxonomy and systematics The str ...

(''Myrmotherula longicauda'') * Yellow-throated antwren (''Myrmotherula ambigua'') * Sclater's antwren (''Myrmotherula sclateri'') Grey group: *

White-flanked antwren The white-flanked antwren (''Myrmotherula axillaris'') is a species of bird in subfamily Thamnophilinae of family Thamnophilidae, the "typical antbirds". It is found from Honduras to Panama in Central America, in every mainland South American c ...

(''Myrmotherula axillaris'') *

Silvery-flanked antwren The silvery-flanked antwren (''Myrmotherula luctuosa'') is an insectivorous bird in subfamily Thamnophilinae of family Thamnophilidae, the "typical antbirds". It is endemic to Brazil. Taxonomy and systematics The silvery-flanked antwren was S ...

(''Myrmotherula luctuosa'') * Slaty antwren (''Myrmotherula schisticolor'') * Rio Suno antwren (''Myrmotherula sunensis'') * Salvadori's antwren (''Myrmotherula minor'') * Long-winged antwren (''Myrmotherula longipennis'') * Band-tailed antwren (''Myrmotherula urosticta'') *

Ihering's antwren Ihering's antwren (''Myrmotherula iheringi'') is a species of bird in subfamily Thamnophilinae of family Thamnophilidae, the "typical antbirds". It is found in Bolivia, Brazil, and Peru. Taxonomy and systematics Ihering's antwren has three su ...

(''Myrmotherula iheringi'') *

Rio de Janeiro antwren The Rio de Janeiro antwren (''Myrmotherula fluminensis'') is a species of bird in the family Thamnophilidae. It is endemic to Brazil, and is currently thought only to survive in Guapi Açu Ecological Reserve, although identification is tricky and ...

(''Myrmotherula fluminensis'') * Yungas antwren (''Myrmotherula grisea'') * Unicolored antwren (''Myrmotherula unicolor'') *

Alagoas antwren The Alagoas antwren (''Myrmotherula snowi'') is a species of bird in the family Thamnophilidae. It is endemic to Brazil. Habitat The Alagoas antwren is found in subtropical or tropical moist lowland in a 230 km2 range at 500–790 m ...

(''Myrmotherula snowi'') *

Plain-winged antwren The plain-winged antwren (''Myrmotherula behni'') is a species of bird in subfamily Thamnophilinae of family Thamnophilidae, the "typical antbirds". It is found in Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Venezuela, and possibly Suriname.Remsen, J. ...

(''Myrmotherula behni'') *

Grey antwren The grey antwren (''Myrmotherula menetriesii'') is a species of bird in the family Thamnophilidae. It is found in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tr ...

(''Myrmotherula menetriesii'') *

Leaden antwren The leaden antwren (''Myrmotherula assimilis'') is a species of bird in subfamily Thamnophilinae of family Thamnophilidae, the "typical antbirds". It is found in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, and Peru.Remsen, J. V., Jr., J. I. Areta, E. Bonaccors ...

(''Myrmotherula assimilis'') Several species previously included in this genus as the "stipple-throated group" have now been transferred to a new genus, ''

Epinecrophylla The ''stipplethroats'' are a South and Central American genus of passerine birds in the antbird family Thamnophilidae. They were previously included in the genus ''Myrmotherula'' as the "stipple-throated group". Characteristics Molecular studie ...

'' based on a 2006 study of nest architecture, foraging behaviour and vocal repertoire. A molecular genetic study published in 2012 found that the genus was not

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 ...

. As a step in creating monophyletic genera, two species that were only distantly related to the other members of ''Myrmotherula'', the rufous-bellied antwren and the plain-throated antwren, were moved to the newly erected genus ''

Isleria ''Isleria'' is a genus of insectivorous birds in the antbird, antbird family, Thamnophilidae. Species The genus contains two species: These species were formerly placed in the genus ''Myrmotherula''. A molecular genetic study published in 2012 ...

''. A further study published in 2014 confirmed that the species remaining in ''Myrmotherula'' formed a

paraphyletic In taxonomy (general), taxonomy, a group is paraphyletic if it consists of the group's most recent common ancestor, last common ancestor and most of its descendants, excluding a few Monophyly, monophyletic subgroups. The group is said to be pa ...

group with respect to the genera ''

Terenura ''Terenura'' is a genus of insectivorous passerine birds in the antbird family, Thamnophilidae. The genus was erected by the German ornithologists Jean Cabanis and Ferdinand Heine in 1860 with the streak-capped antwren as the type species ...

'', '' Formicivora'', '' Stymphalornis'' and '' Myrmochanes''. See also Supporting Information Figure S.1

References

Bird genera Taxa named by Philip Sclater Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{Thamnophilidae-stub