The scarlet-throated tanager was
formally described in 1819 by the German naturalist
Hinrich Lichtenstein under the
binomial name Tanagra loricata. Lichtenstein based his description on the
Jacapú that had been described in 1648 by
Georg Marcgrave. The
type locality is northeastern Brazil. The scarlet-throated tanager is now the only member of the genus
Compsothraupis that was introduced in 1915 by the American ornithologist
Charles Wallace Richmond. The genus name is formed from the
Ancient Greek kompsos meaning "pretty" with
thraupis, an unknown small bird. In ornithology
thraupis is used to signify a tanager. The specific epithet
loricata is from the Latin
loricatus meaning "clothed in mail" or "breast-plated". The scarlet-throated tanager is
monotypic: no
subspecies are recognised. ==References==