Myrmoborus

Myrmoborus
Black-faced antbird (Myrmoborus myotherinus)
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Thamnophilidae
Genus: Myrmoborus
Cabanis & Heine, 1860
Type species
Pithys leucophrys
Tschudi, 1844

Myrmoborus is a genus of passerine birds in the antbird family, Thamnophilidae.

The genus was erected by the German ornithologists Jean Cabanis and Ferdinand Heine in 1860 with the white-browed antbird as the type species. The genus name is a combination of two Greek words: murmos, meaning "ant" and -boros (from "bibros"), meaning "-devouring".

The genus contains five species:

Image Common name Scientific name Distribution
White-browed antbird Myrmoborus leucophrys Amazonia
Ash-breasted antbird Myrmoborus lugubris banks of the Amazon river
Black-tailed antbird Myrmoborus melanurus banks of upper Amazon river
Black-faced antbird Myrmoborus myotherinus Amazonia
White-lined antbird Myrmoborus lophotes southwestern Amazonia

The white-lined antbird was previously placed in the genus Percnostola but a genetic study published in 2013 found that it is embedded within Myrmoborus.