The antthrushes are similar in appearance to small
rails. Their sexes are alike in plumage. The
thrush part of the name refers only to the similarity in size (and in
Chamaeza also coloration) to true
thrushes, not to an
evolutionary relationship. Molecular phylogenetic studies indicated that the Formicariidae as previously delimited were highly
paraphyletic, judging from comparison of several
mt and
nDNA sequences. The aberrant bar-bellied "antpittas" of the genus
Pittasoma, which were formerly placed here, belong to the
gnateater family (which initially was also considered part of the Formicariidae); as the gnateaters proper, they are
sexually dichromatic. In addition, the true antpittas formerly placed in this family are now found in their own family, the
Grallariidae. On the other hand, at least a large proportion of the
Rhinocryptidae (
tapaculos), including the
type genus Rhinocrypta, seem to be closer to the antthrushes, but are still considered a distinct family. The following cladogram shows the phylogeny of the antthrush family. It is based on a large
molecular phylogenetic study of the
suboscines by Michael Harvey and collaborators that was published in 2020. The species are those recognised by the
International Ornithologists' Union (IOC). }} The short-tailed antthrush was found to be
paraphyletic. ==References==