{"id":376951,"date":"2026-03-10T03:21:10","date_gmt":"2026-03-10T03:21:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/376951\/"},"modified":"2026-03-10T03:21:10","modified_gmt":"2026-03-10T03:21:10","slug":"two-new-bird-species-identified-in-amazonia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/376951\/","title":{"rendered":"Two New Bird Species Identified in Amazonia"},"content":{"rendered":"

An antbird long thought to be a single widespread species across the Amazon rainforest is, in fact, several different ones. Among them are two newly-described species \u2014 Cercomacra mura and Cercomacra raucisona \u2014 that inhabit separate regions of southern Amazonia. The discovery emerged from a comprehensive analysis of museum specimens and vocal recordings of birds in the gray antbird (Cercomacra cinerascens) complex<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Cercomacra<\/a><\/p>\n

Cercomacra raucisona. Image credit: Fernando Zurdo.<\/p>\n

Gray antbirds are small, inconspicuous forest birds in the family Thamnophilidae<\/a>.<\/p>\n

They prefer dense understory habitats and can be found in Brazil, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela.<\/p>\n

Males are typically gray and females brownish, and the subtle differences in their plumage made it difficult for ornithologists to distinguish populations over the region\u2019s vast geography.<\/p>\n

To reassess the species boundaries within the Cercomacra cinerascens complex, Vagner Cavarzere Universidade researcher Estadual Paulista and colleagues compared plumage coloration and body measurements and closely studied the birds\u2019 vocalizations.<\/p>\n

They examined 682 bird specimens from museum collections and analyzed 347 recordings of their songs.<\/p>\n

They also used BirdNET, a deep-learning system trained to classify bird sounds, to analyze the structure of the songs.<\/p>\n

\u201cBirds rely heavily on vocal communication, which are important for species recognition,\u201d the researchers said.<\/p>\n

\u201cTheir songs act as acoustic signatures, providing a powerful key to unlocking hidden diversity.\u201d<\/p>\n

The results revealed clear divisions among populations separated by major Amazonian rivers.<\/p>\n

Birds north of the Pastaza, Mara\u00f1\u00f3n, Solim\u00f5es and Amazon rivers differed consistently in coloration and song patterns from populations to the south.<\/p>\n

Cercomacra mura inhabits the forest region between the Ucayali and Madeira rivers, while Cercomacra raucisona lives between the Madeira and Tapaj\u00f3s rivers.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese rivers function as long-term natural barriers,\u201d the researchers said.<\/p>\n

\u201cPopulations diverged independently over millennia into the unique species we describe today, which are kept isolated by these major rivers.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Cercomacra<\/a><\/p>\n

Cercomacra mura. Image credit: Tomaz Melo.<\/p>\n

The scientists also recognized several previously named forms as full species, bringing the total number of species in the complex to five.<\/p>\n

They concluded that each has distinct vocal characteristics and geographic ranges, with little evidence of overlap or hybridization.<\/p>\n

The discovery underscores how much of the Amazon\u2019s biodiversity remains to be clarified, even among birds that scientists believed they already understood well.<\/p>\n

\u201cBy merging artificial intelligence with the foundational science of bioacoustics and museum collections, we can uncover diversity that would otherwise remain invisible,\u201d the authors said.<\/p>\n

\u201cRecognizing these species is the first and most critical step toward ensuring their protection in a rapidly changing world.\u201d<\/p>\n

The discovery is described in a new paper<\/a> in the journal Vertebrate Zoology.<\/p>\n

_____<\/p>\n

V. Cavarzere et al. 2026. Integrative taxonomy of the Cercomacra cinerascens species complex with description of two new species (Aves: Thamnophilidae). Vertebrate Zoology 76: 73-91; doi: 10.3897\/vz.76.e171834<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"An antbird long thought to be a single widespread species across the Amazon rainforest is, in fact, several…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":376952,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[77],"tags":[291,1463,76664,46506,173563,289,27375,81464,377,173564,173565,173566,173567,612,18,173568,19,17,133,35204,13647,173569,81467],"class_list":["post-376951","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-science","tag-ai","tag-amazon","tag-amazon-rainforest","tag-amazonia","tag-antbird","tag-artificial-intelligence","tag-bird","tag-birdnet","tag-brazil","tag-cercomacra","tag-cercomacra-cinerascens","tag-cercomacra-mura","tag-cercomacra-raucisona","tag-deep-learning","tag-eire","tag-gray-antbird","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-science","tag-song","tag-south-america","tag-thamnophilidae","tag-vocalization"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/116202732986946718","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/376951","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=376951"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/376951\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/376952"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=376951"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=376951"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=376951"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}