Grallariidae is a

family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Ideal ...

of smallish

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 ...

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweig ...

s of subtropical and tropical Central and

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the sout ...

known as antpittas. They are between 10 and 20 cm (4–8 in) in length, and are related to the

antbird 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 ...

s, Thamnophilidae, and

gnateater The gnateaters are a bird family, Conopophagidae, consisting of ten small passerine species in two genera, which occur in South and Central America. The family was formerly restricted to the gnateater genus ''Conopophaga''; analysis of mtDNA cy ...

s, Conopophagidae. They were also formerly placed in the Formicariidae, but studies by Rice (2005) indicated a distinct family was supported. Both the North American and South American committees of the AOU recognized the family soon after. This family contains probably (see below) 68

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate ...

in one large and four fairly small

genera Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nomencla ...

. These are forest birds that tend to feed at or near the ground since many are specialist

ant Ants are eusocial insects of the family Formicidae and, along with the related wasps and bees, belong to the order Hymenoptera. Ants evolved from vespoid wasp ancestors in the Cretaceous period. More than 13,800 of an estimated total of 2 ...

eaters. Most are drab in appearance with shades of (rusty) brown, black, and white being their dominant tones. Compared to other birds that specialize in following ants, this family is the most tied to the ground. The long, powerful legs (which lend the birds a distinctive upright posture) and an essentially

vestigial Vestigiality is the retention, during the process of evolution, of genetically determined structures or attributes that have lost some or all of the ancestral function in a given species. Assessment of the vestigiality must generally rely on co ...

tail aid this lifestyle. They lay 1 to 6 eggs in a nest in a tree, both sexes incubating.

Systematics

The antpittas are sexually monomorphic; they resemble the true pittas in that they are virtually tailless; they hop like some

thrushes The thrushes are a passerine bird family, Turdidae, with a worldwide distribution. The family was once much larger before biologists reclassified the former subfamily Saxicolinae, which includes the chats and European robins, as Old World flyca ...

, and are much easier to hear than see—although their vocalizations may be rather atypical for perching birds.

Species

Typical antpittas – tribe Grallariini/subfamily Grallariinae * Genus ''

Grallaria ''Grallaria'' is a large genus of Neotropical birds in the antpitta family Grallariidae. The genus was introduced by the French ornithologist Louis Jean Pierre Vieillot in 1816 with the variegated antpitta (''Grallaria varia'') as the type sp ...

'' (45 species) Lesser antpittas – possibly tribe Myrmotherini/subfamily Myrmotherinae * Genus '' Cryptopezus'' (1 species) * Genus ''

Hylopezus ''Hylopezus'' is a genus of bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class (biology), class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the Oviparity, laying of Eggshell, hard-shelled eggs, a hi ...

'' (9 species) * Genus ''

Myrmothera ''Myrmothera'' is a genus of birds belonging to the family Grallariidae. Established by French ornithologist Louis Jean Pierre Vieillot in 1816, it contains two or three species, depending on the taxonomy followed. The International Ornithologi ...

'' (3 species) * Genus '' Grallaricula'' (10 species)

References

* Rice, Nathan H. (2005a): Phylogenetic relationships of antpitta genera (Passeriformes: Formicariidae). ''

Auk An auk or alcid is a bird of the family Alcidae in the order Charadriiformes. The alcid family includes the murres, guillemots, auklets, puffins, and murrelets. The word "auk" is derived from Icelandic ''álka'', from Old Norse ''alka'' ...

'' 122(2): 673–683. nglish with Spanish abstract DOI:10.1642/0004-8038(2005)122 673:PROAGP.0.CO;2PDF fulltext
* Rice, Nathan H. (2005b): Further Evidence for Paraphyly of the Formicariidae (Passeriformes). ''

Condor Condor is the common name for two species of New World vultures, each in a monotypic genus. The name derives from the Quechua ''kuntur''. They are the largest flying land birds in the Western Hemisphere. They are: * The Andean condor (''V ...

'' 107(4): 910–915. nglish with Spanish abstractPDF fulltext

External links

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q1027867 * Higher-level bird taxa restricted to the Neotropics Taxa named by Philip Sclater Taxa named by Osbert Salvin