The white-cheeked antbird (''Gymnopithys leucaspis'') is an insectivorous bird in the

antbird The antbirds are a large passerine bird family (biology), family, Thamnophilidae, found across subtropical and tropical Central and South America, from Mexico to Argentina. There are List of antbirds, more than 230 species, known variously as an ...

family Thamnophilidae. It is found to the east of the

Andes The Andes, Andes Mountains or Andean Mountains (; ) are the longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range is long, wide (widest between 18°S – 20°S ...

in Ecuador, Colombia, northern Peru and western Brazil. Its natural

habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

is subtropical or tropical moist lowland

forest A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...

s. 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 ...

described the white-cheeked antbird in 1855 and 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 ...

''Myrmeciza leucaspis''. It is now placed in the

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 ...

Gymnopithys ''Gymnopithys'' is a genus of passerine birds in the antbird family, Thamnophilidae. The species in this genus are specialist ant-followers that depend on swarms of army ants to flush arthropods out of the leaf litter. Taxonomy The genus ''Gymn ...

'' which was introduced by the French ornithologist

Charles Lucien Bonaparte Charles Lucien Jules Laurent Bonaparte, 2nd Prince of Canino and Musignano (24 May 1803 – 29 July 1857), was a French naturalist and ornithologist. Lucien and his wife had twelve children, including Cardinal Lucien Bonaparte. Life and career ...

in 1857. There are four subspecies: * ''Gymnopithys leucaspis leucaspis'' (Sclater, PL, 1855) – east Colombia * ''Gymnopithys leucaspis castaneus'' Zimmer, JT, 1937 – east Ecuador and northeast Peru * ''Gymnopithys leucaspis peruanus'' Zimmer, JT, 1937 – north Peru * ''Gymnopithys leucaspis lateralis''

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 – northwest Amazonian Brazil The white-cheeked antbird was formerly considered as

conspecific Biological specificity is the tendency of a characteristic such as a behavior or a biochemical variation to occur in a particular species. Biochemist Linus Pauling stated that "Biological specificity is the set of characteristics of living organ ...

with the

bicolored antbird The bicolored antbird (''Gymnopithys bicolor'') is a species of bird in the family Thamnophilidae. It is found in Honduras south to Panama, western Colombia and Ecuador. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest. It is ...

. They were split into separate species based on the results of a 2007 genetic study that found that the white-cheeked antbird was more similar to the

rufous-throated antbird The rufous-throated antbird (''Gymnopithys rufigula'') is a species of bird in the family Thamnophilidae. It is found in Brazil, French Guiana, Guyana, Suriname, and Venezuela. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests. ...

than it was to the bicolored antbird.

References

External links

Xeno-canto: audio recordings of the white-cheeked antbird

white-cheeked antbird The white-cheeked antbird (''Gymnopithys leucaspis'') is an insectivorous bird in the antbird family Thamnophilidae. It is found to the east of the Andes in Ecuador, Colombia, northern Peru and western Brazil. Its natural habitat is subtropical o ...

Birds of Honduras Birds of Nicaragua Birds of Costa Rica Birds of Panama Birds of the Amazon rainforest Birds of Colombia Birds of the Ecuadorian Amazon Birds of the Peruvian Amazon

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