Silvery-fronted Tapaculo

SCI Name:  Scytalopus argentifrons
Protonym:  Scytalopus argentifrons Proc.U.S.Natl.Mus. 14 p.475
Taxonomy:  Passeriformes / Rhinocryptidae / Scytalopus
Taxonomy Code:  siftap1
Type Locality:  Volcan de Irazu, Costa Rica.
Author:  Ridgway
Publish Year:  1891
IUCN Status:  Least Concern

DEFINITIONS

SCYTALOPUS
(Rhinocryptidae; Ϯ Dusky Tapaculo S. fuscus) Gr. σκυταλη skutalē or σκυταλον skutalon  stick, cudgel; πους pous, ποδος podos  foot; "Mr. Gould also proposed a new genus in the group of Wrens, under the name of Scytalopus, and which he characterized as follows:  Genus SCYTALOPUS.  Rostrum capite brevius, compressum, obtusum leviter recurvum.  Nares basales, membrana tectæ.  Alæ concavæ, breves, rotundatæ, remige prima abbreviata, tertia, quarta, quinta et sexta æqualibus.  Cauda brevis, rotundata, (pennis externis brevissimis,) laxa.  Tarsi elongati, atque robusti, antrorsum scutellis tecti; posterius fasciis angustis cincti, squamis serpentum abdominalibus, haud dissimilibus; halluce elongato et robusto; ungue elongato; digitum anteriorum, medio elongato et gracili.    SCYTALOPUS FUSCUS.   ...   Hab. in Fretu Magellanico, Chili, &c.  Hoc genus ad illud in quo Troglodytes veræ amplectuntur maximam affinitatem demonstrat.     SCYTALOPUS ALBOGULARIS.  ...  Hab. in Brasilia." (Gould 1837); "The general contour of form is that of Troglodytes  ...  the tail is even shorter than in that genus, and consists of decomposed feathers, the whole has a rugged and disunited appearance; and lastly, the tarsi have their posterior aspect regularly banded with narrow scales, instead of having one or two continuous laminæ on that part.  ...  Tarsi long and stout, the forepart covered with large scutellæ; the hind part bound round with narrow scales, like the abdominal scales of snakes; hind toe long and rather stout, claw long; middle toe long and slender, and with the other two fore toes furnished with fine nails." (Gould 1851); "Scytalopus Gould, Proc. Zool. Soc. London, pt. 4, 1836 (1837), p. 89. Type, by subsequent designation, Sylvia Magellanicus (Lath.) = Motacilla magellanica Gmelin (G. R. Gray, List Gen. Bds., 1840, p. 19)." (Peters 1951, VII, 283) (see Myornis).
Var. Scytolopus.
Synon. Agathopus, Sylviaxis.

argentifrons
L. argentum, argenti  silver; frons, frontis  forehead, brow.

SUBSPECIES

Silvery-fronted Tapaculo (Silvery-fronted)
SCI Name: Scytalopus argentifrons argentifrons
argentifrons
L. argentum, argenti  silver; frons, frontis  forehead, brow.

Silvery-fronted Tapaculo (Chiriqui)
SCI Name: Scytalopus argentifrons chiriquensis
chiriquensis / chiriquiquensis
Chiriquí Province, Panama.