Scytalopus

Superregnum: Eukaryota
Regnum: Animalia
Subregnum: Eumetazoa
Cladus: Bilateria
Cladus: Nephrozoa
Superphylum: Deuterostomia
Phylum: Chordata
Cladus: Craniata
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Infraphylum: Gnathostomata
Superclassis: Tetrapoda
Cladus: Reptiliomorpha
Cladus: Amniota
Classis: Reptilia
Cladus: Eureptilia
Cladus: Romeriida
Subclassis: Diapsida
Cladus: Sauria
Infraclassis: Archosauromorpha
Cladus: Crurotarsi
Divisio: Archosauria
Subsectio: Ornithodira
Subtaxon: Dinosauromorpha
Cladus: Dinosauria
Ordo: Saurischia
Cladus: Theropoda
Cladus: Neotheropoda
Infraclassis: Aves
Ordo: Passeriformes
Subordo: Tyranni
Infraordo: Tyrannides
Parvordo: Furnariida
Superfamilia: Formicaroidea

Familia: Rhinocryptidae
Genus: Scytalopus
Species: S. acutirostris – S. affinis – S. androstictus – S. altirostris – S. alvarezlopezi – S. argentifrons – S. atratus – S. bolivianus – S. canus – S. caracae – S. chocoensis – S. diamantinensis – S. femoralis – S. frankeae – S. fuscus – S. gettyae – S. gonzagai – S. griseicollis – S. intermedius – S. iraiensis – S. krabbei – S. latebricola – S. latrans – S. macropus – S. magellanicus – S. meridanus – S. micropterus – S. novacapitalis – S. opacus – S. pachecoi – S. panamensis – S. parkeri – S. parvirostris – S. perijanus – S. petrophilus – S. robbinsi – S. rodriguezi – S. sanctaemartae – S. schulenbergi – S. simonsi – S. speluncae – S. spillmanni – S. stilesi – S. superciliaris – S. unicolor – S. urubambae – S. vicinior – S. whitneyi – S. zimmeri
Name

Scytalopus Gould, 1837

Typus: Motacilla magellanica Gmelin, 1789 = Scytalopus magellanicus

Synonyms

Agathopus P.L. Sclater, 1858 PZS p. 69
Sylviaxis Lesson, 1840 Rev.Zool. p. 274

References
Primary references

Gould, J. 1836. Exhibition of Birds allied to the European Wren, with characters of new species (exhibited several specimens and drawings of Birds and proposed a new genus). Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London Pt 4 no.46: 88–90. BHL Reference page. Original description p. 89 BHL

Additional references

Whitney, B. M. 1994. A new Scytalopus tapaculo (Rhinocryptidae) from Bolivia, with notes on other Bolivian members of the genus and the magellanicus complex. The Wilson Bulletin 106(4): 585-614. Full article (PDF)Reference page.
Krabbe, N. & Schulenberg, T.S.. 1997. Species limits and natural history of Scytalopus Tapaculos (Rhinocryptidae), with descriptions of the Ecuadorian taxa, including three new species. In: Studies in Neotropical Ornithology honoring Ted Parker. Ornithological Monographs 48: 46-88. Full publication (PDF)Reference page.
Coopmans, P., Krabbe, N., & Schulenberg, T.S. (2001). Vocal evidence of species rank for nominate Unicoloured Tapaculo Scytalopus unicolor. Bulletin British Ornithologists’ Club 121: 208–213. Full article viewReference page.
Cuervo, A.M.; Cadena, C.D.; Krabbe, N. & Renjifo, L.M. 2005. Scytalopus stilesi, a new species of tapaculo (Rhinocryptidae) from the Cordillera Central of Colombia. The Auk 122(2): 445–463. Full article (PDF)Reference page.
Krabbe, N., Salaman, P.G.W., Cortés, A., Quevedo, A., Ortega, L.A. & Cadena, C.D. 2005. A new species of tapaculo from the upper Magdalena valley, Colombia. Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club 125: 93–108. Full article (PDF)Reference page.
Maurício, G.N. 2005. Taxonomy of new populations in the Scytalopus speluncae group, with description of a new species and remarks on the systematics and biogeography of the complex (Passeriformes: Rhinocryptidae). Ararajuba - Revista brasileira de Ornitologia 13(1): 7–28. Full article (PDF)Reference page.
Maurício, G.N. & Bornschein, M.R. 2017. On identification errors in Scytalopus speluncae (Ménétriés) and S. pachecoi Maurício from southern Brazil with new data on distribution and biogeography of these taxa (Aves: Rhinocryptidae). Zootaxa 4350(3): 595–599. DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4350.3.13. Reference page.
Bornschein, M. R., G. N. Maurício, R. Belmonte-Lopes, H. Mata & S. L. Bonatto. 2007. Diamantina Tapaculo, a new Scytalopus endemic to the Chapada Diamantina, northeastern Brazil (Passeriformes: Rhinocryptidae). Revista Brasileira de Ornitologia 15(2):151–174. Full article (PDF)Reference page.
Donegan, T.M. & Avendaño, J.E. (2008). Notes on Tapaculos (Passeriformes: Rhinocryptidae) of the Eastern Andes of Colombia and Venezuelan Andes, with a new subspecies of Scytalopus griseicollis from Colombia. Ornitología Colombiana 6: 24–65. Full article (PDF)Reference page.
Mata, H., Fontana C.S., Maurício, G.N., Bornschein, M.R., Vasconcelos, M.F., & Bonatto, S.L. 2009. Molecular phylogeny and biogeography of the eastern tapaculos (Aves: Rhinocryptidae: Scytalopus, Eleoscytalopus): cryptic diversification in Brazilian Atlantic Forest. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 53: 450-462. DOI: 10.1016/j.ympev.2009.07.017. Full article viewReference page.
Krabbe, N., & C. D. Cadena. 2010. A taxonomic revision of the Paramo Tapaculo Scytalopus canus Chapman (Aves: Rhinocryptidae), with description of a new subspecies from Ecuador and Peru. Zootaxa 2354: 56–66. DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.193541 Full article viewReference page.
Whitney, B.M.; Vasconcelos, M.F.; Silveira, L.F.; Pacheco, J.F. 2010: Scytalopus petrophilus (Rock Tapaculo): a new species from Minas Gerais, Brazil. Revista Brasileira de Ornitologia, 18(2): 73–88. Full article (PDF)Reference page.
Maurício, G.N., Bornschein, M.R., Vasconcelos, M.F., Whitney, B.M., Pacheco, J.F. & Silveira, L.F. 2010. Taxonomy of “Mouse-colored Tapaculos”. I. On the application of the name Malacorhynchus speluncae Ménétries, 1835 (Aves: Passeriformes: Rhinocryptidae). Zootaxa 2518: 32–48. Preview Reference page.
Hosner, P. A., Robbins, M.B., Valqui, T., & Peterson, A.T., 2013. A New Species of Scytalopus Tapaculo (Aves: Passeriformes: Rhinocryptidae) from the Andes of Central Peru. The Wilson Journal of Ornithology 125 (2): 233–242. DOI: 10.1676/12-055.1 Full article viewReference page.
Maurício, G.N., Belmonte-Lopes, R., Pacheco, J.F., Silveira, L.F., Whitney, B.M., & Bornschein, M.R. 2014. Taxonomy of “Mouse-colored Tapaculos” (II): An endangered new species from the montane Atlantic Forest of southern Bahia, Brazil (Passeriformes: Rhinocryptidae: Scytalopus) The Auk 131(4): 643–659. Full article. and Erratum: The Auk 132(4): 951–952. 2015 Erratum. Reference page.
Avendaño, J. E.; A. M. Cuervo; J. P. López-O.; N. Gutiérrez Pinto; A. Cortés & C. D. Cadena. 2015. A new species of tapaculo (Rhinocryptidae: Scytalopus) from the Serranía de Perijá of Colombia and Venezuela. The Auk 132: 450–46. Full article (PDF)Reference page.
Stiles, F.G., Laverde-R., O. & Cadena, C.D. 2017. A new species of tapaculo (Rhinocryptidae: Scytalopus) from the Western Andes of Colombia. The Auk 134(2): 377–392. DOI: 10.1642/AUK-16-205.1 Reference page.
Cadena, C.D., Cuervo, A.M., Céspedes, L.N., Bravo, G.A., Krabbe, N., Schulenberg, T.S., Derryberry, G.A., Silveira, L.F., Derryberry, E.P., Brumfield, R.T. & Fjeldså, J. 2020. Systematics, biogeography, and diversification of Scytalopus tapaculos (Rhinocryptidae), an enigmatic radiation of Neotropical montane birds. The Auk 137(2): 1–30. DOI: 10.1093/auk/ukz077 Paywall Reference page.
Krabbe, N., Schulenberg, T.S., Hosner, P.A., Rosenberg, K.V., Davis, T.J., Rosenberg, G.H., Lane, D.F., Andersen, M.J., Robbins, M.B., Cadena, C.D., Valqui, T., Salter, J.F., Spencer, A.J., Angulo, F. & Fjeldså, J. 2020. Untangling cryptic diversity in the High Andes: Revision of the Scytalopus [magellanicus] complex (Rhinocryptidae) in Peru reveals three new species. The Auk 137(2): 1–26 DOI: 10.1093/auk/ukaa003 Open access Reference page.

Vernacular names
English: Tapaculos
español: Churrines; tapaculos
português: Tapaculos

Scytalopus is a genus of small passerine birds belonging to the tapaculo group. They are found in South and Central America from Tierra del Fuego to Costa Rica, but are absent from the Amazon Basin. They inhabit dense vegetation at or near ground-level and are mainly found in mountainous regions, particularly the Andes. They can be very difficult to see as they run through the undergrowth in a mouse-like fashion.

Description

They are plump with short tails that often are held cocked. Depending on species, the total length is 10–14 cm (4-5½ in). Their plumage is blackish or grey. Several species have brown bellies, rumps or flanks; often with some barring. A few have white crowns or eyebrows. Juveniles of most species are browner and have barred flanks. Many species are essentially impossible to separate by their plumage, but songs and calls are often distinctive and important for species identification.
Behavior

Their diet consists mainly of insects. Little is known about the breeding habits of most species but the eggs are usually white and the nest is usually ball-shaped and made of plant material such as root-fibres and mosses. It is built in a cavity in sites such as earth banks or among the roots or bark of trees.
Taxonomy

The genus Scytalopus was introduced in 1837 by the English ornithologist John Gould.[1] The name combines the Ancient Greek skutalē or skutalon meaning "stick" with pous meaning "foot".[2] The type species was specified in 1840 by George Robert Gray as the Magellanic tapaculo.[3]

The species-limits within this genus is among the most complex matters in Neotropical ornithology. They are highly cryptic, and identification using visual features often is impossible. Vocal and biochemical data is typically needed to clarify the taxonomic status of the various populations. Several new species have been described in recent years (e.g. S. stilesi and S. rodriguezi from Colombia). The taxonomic status of many of the Andean species was resolved by Krabbe & Schulenberg (1997) who split a number of species and described three new ones. The confusing situation is perhaps best illustrated by the fact that only 10 species were recognized in this genus in 1970 (Krabbe & Schulenberg, 2003), while the figure now is more than four times as high. Additionally, still undescribed species are known to exist, while some species as currently defined actually may include several species (e.g. the southern population of the large-footed tapaculo may represent an undescribed species). Donegan & Avendano recently reviewed the Colombian and Venezuelan species, formally describing one new subspecies and providing details of a further three undescribed species or subspecies to be described in future publications.

The Brazilian taxa are similarly complex with several recently described species and considerable confusion surrounding the use of the scientific name Scytalopus speluncae.

Conservation

Some species have highly localized distributions, and being poor fliers, they easily become isolated in small populations. BirdLife International currently (2007) consider one species vulnerable (Scytalopus panamensis) and three species endangered (S. iraiensis, S. rodriguezi and S. robbinsi).
Species list

The genus contains 49 species. The white-breasted and Bahia tapaculos were formerly placed in this genus, but these two species are now known to be closer to the bristlefronts (genus Merulaxis) and have therefore been moved to Eleoscytalopus.[4]

Marsh tapaculo or wetland tapaculo, Scytalopus iraiensis
Diamantina tapaculo, Scytalopus diamantinensis (described in 2007)
Brasília tapaculo, Scytalopus novacapitalis
Rock tapaculo, Scytalopus petrophilus
Planalto tapaculo, Scytalopus pachecoi (described in 2005)
Blackish tapaculo, Scytalopus latrans
Mouse-coloured tapaculo, Scytalopus speluncae
Dusky tapaculo, Scytalopus fuscus
Magellanic tapaculo, Scytalopus magellanicus
Ancash tapaculo, Scytalopus affinis
White-winged tapaculo, Scytalopus krabbei (described in 2020)
Loja tapaculo, Scytalopus androstictus – formerly a subspecies of S. opacus, but elevated to a distinct species
Paramo tapaculo, Scytalopus opacus – formerly a subspecies of S. canus, but under the common name paramo tapaculo
Paramillo tapaculo, Scytalopus canus – see S. opacus.
White-browed tapaculo, Scytalopus superciliaris
Zimmer's tapaculo, Scytalopus zimmeri
Puna tapaculo, Scytalopus simonsi
Diademed tapaculo, Scytalopus schulenbergi
Vilcabamba tapaculo, Scytalopus urubambae
Ampay tapaculo, Scytalopus whitneyi (described in 2020)
Jalca tapaculo, Scytalopus frankeae (described in 2020)
Neblina tapaculo, Scytalopus altirostris
Trilling tapaculo, Scytalopus parvirostris
Bolivian tapaculo Scytalopus bolivianus
White-crowned tapaculo Scytalopus atratus
Santa Marta tapaculo, Scytalopus sanctaemartae
Long-tailed tapaculo, Scytalopus micropterus
Rufous-vented tapaculo, Scytalopus femoralis
Utcubamba tapaculo, Scytalopus intermedius
Large-footed tapaculo, Scytalopus macropus
Junin tapaculo, Scytalopus gettyae (described in 2013)
Unicolored tapaculo, Scytalopus unicolor
Tschudi's tapaculo, Scytalopus acutirostris
Bahian mouse-colored tapaculo or Boa Nova tapaculo, Scytalopus gonzagai (described in 2014)
Silvery-fronted tapaculo, Scytalopus argentifrons
Nariño tapaculo, Scytalopus vicinior
Tacarcuna tapaculo or pale-throated tapaculo, Scytalopus panamensis
Chocó tapaculo, Scytalopus chocoensis
Magdalena tapaculo, Scytalopus rodriguezi (described in 2005)
Stiles's tapaculo, Scytalopus stilesi (described in 2005)
Tatama tapaculo, Scytalopus alvarezlopezi (described in 2017)
El Oro tapaculo or Ecuadorian tapaculo, Scytalopus robbinsi
Caracas tapaculo, Scytalopus caracae
Pale-bellied tapaculo, Scytalopus griseicollis
Brown-rumped tapaculo, Scytalopus latebricola
Perijá tapaculo, Scytalopus perijanus (described in 2015)
Mérida tapaculo, Scytalopus meridanus
Chusquea tapaculo, Scytalopus parkeri
Spillmann's tapaculo, Scytalopus spillmanni

References

Gould, John (1837). "Genus Scytalopus". Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London. Part 4 (46): 89. Although the volume bears the date of 1836, the issue was not published until 1837.
Jobling, James A. (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. p. 352. ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4.
Gray, George Robert (1840). A List of the Genera of Birds : with an Indication of the Typical Species of Each Genus. London: R. and J.E. Taylor. p. 19.

Gill, Frank; Donsker, David; Rasmussen, Pamela, eds. (July 2021). "Antthrushes, antpittas, gnateaters, tapaculos, crescentchests". IOC World Bird List Version 11.2. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 28 July 2021.

Donegan, Thomas & Avendano, Jorge E. (2008): Notes on Tapaculos (Passeriformes: Rhinocryptidae) of the Eastern Andes of Colombia and Venezuelan Andes, with a new subspecies of Scytalopus griseicollis from Colombia. Ornitologia Colombiana 6. 24-65 PDF fulltext
Greeney, Harold F. & Gelis, Rudolphe A. (2005) The nest and nestlings of the Long-tailed Tapaculo (Scytalopus micropterus) in Ecuador, Ornitología Colombiana 3:88-91. Accessed 18/06/07.
Maurício, Giovanni Nachtigall (2005) Taxonomy of new populations in the Scytalopus speluncae group, with description of a new species and remarks on the systematics and biogeography of the complex (Passeriformes: Rhinocryptidae), Ararajuba 13 (1):7-28. Accessed 18/05/07.
Maurício, N. M, Matta, H., Bornschein, M. R., Cadena, C. D., Alvarenga, H., & Bonatto, S. L. (2008) Hidden generic diversity in Neotropical birds: Molecular and anatomical data support a new genus for the “Scytalopus” indigoticus species-group (Aves: Rhinocryptidae). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 49(1): 125–135.
Raposo, Marcos A.; Stopiglia, Renata; Loskot, Vladimir & Kirwan, Guy M. (2006) The correct use of the name Scytalopus speluncae (Ménétriés, 1835), and the description of a new species of Brazilian tapaculo (Aves: Passeriformes: Rhinocryptidae), Zootaxa 1271: 37–56. Accessed 18/06/07.
South American Classification Committee (2007) A classification of the bird species of South America, part 7. Accessed 18/06/07.
Comitê Brasileiro de Registros Ornitológicos: List of Birds in Brazil
Avedaño, Jorge E., Cuervo, A., López-O., J. P., Gutiérrez-Pinto, N., Cortés-Diago, A. & Cadena, C. D. (2015): A new species of tapaculo (Rhinocryptidae: Scytalopus) from the Serranía de Perijá of Colombia and Venezuela, The Auk Volume 132, 2015, pp. 450–466.