| Stipplethroat | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Ornate stipplethroat (Epinecrophylla ornata) | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Passeriformes |
| Family: | Thamnophilidae |
| Genus: | Epinecrophylla Isler, ML & Brumfield, 2006 |
| Type species | |
| Formicivora haematonota [1] Sclater, 1857 | |
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".
Molecular studies show that the genus Myrmotherula as then defined was polyphyletic. The stipple-throated members form a clade that is not a sister clade to any of the remaining members, and the genus Epinecrophylla has been erected to accommodate them. The stipple-throated species have a black and white (or buffy-white) stippled throat in one or both of the sexes. They also have a relatively long, plain-coloured tail. The fact that this clade is distinct from the remaining members of the Myrmotherula is reinforced by differences in song, foraging behaviour and nest-building. [2]
Members of the genus Epinecrophylla tend to specialise in extracting insects and spiders from dangling clusters of dead leaves, foraging in this way for more than 75% of the time. While foraging they have stereotyped methods of manipulating the leaves with their beaks and feet; by contrast, members of Myrmotherula tend to hunt for prey on the surfaces of leaves, stems, twigs, mosses and vines, and none of those birds specialise in and manipulate dead leaves, although they do sometimes probe them with their beaks. [2] Another characteristic of Epinecrophylla seems to be the dome-shaped nest with side or oblique entrance; three of the species have this characteristic, while the nesting behaviours of the other members of the genus are not known. [2]
The genus contains eight species: [3]
| Image | Common Name | Scientific Name | Distribution |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Checker-throated stipplethroat | Epinecrophylla fulviventris | Central America and Tumbes–Chocó–Magdalena |
 | Brown-bellied stipplethroat | Epinecrophylla gutturalise | Guiana Shield |
 | White-eyed stipplethroat | Epinecrophylla leucophthalma | southern Amazonia |
 | Rufous-backed stipplethroat | Epinecrophylla haematonota | western Amazonia |
 | Rio Madeira stipplethroat | Epinecrophylla amazonica | south of the Madeira River |
 | Foothill stipplethroat | Epinecrophylla spodionota | northern Andes |
 | Ornate stipplethroat | Epinecrophylla ornata | western Amazonia |
 | Rufous-tailed stipplethroat | Epinecrophylla erythrura | western Amazonia |
