| Upucerthia | |
|---|---|
| |
| Scale-throated earthcreeper (Upucerthia dumetaria) | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Passeriformes |
| Family: | Furnariidae |
| Genus: | Upucerthia I. Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 1832 |
| Type species | |
| Upucerthia dumetaria[1] Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 1832
| |
Upucerthia is a genus of bird in the family Furnariidae.
Upucerthia is a genus of bird in the family Furnariidae. Established by French zoologist Isidore Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire in 1832, it contains four species known as earthcreepers.[2] Genetic studies done in the early 2000s indicated that the genus as it stood at that time was highly polyphyletic, with species representing four distinct clades.[3] As a result, a total of five former species were moved to other genera. The rock earthcreeper and the straight-billed earthcreeper were moved to the genus Ochetorhynchus.[2][3][4] The Bolivian earthcreeper and the Chaco earthcreeper were moved to the genus Tarphonomus,[2][3][5] and the striated earthcreeper was moved into the monotypic genus Geocerthia.[2][3]
The genus name is a portmanteau of the genus names Upupa (for the hoopoes) and Certhia (for the treecreepers).[6]
The following are species recognized by the International Ornithologists' Union as being members of this genus.[2]
The Patagonian forest earthcreeper, described as a distinct species in 1900 but soon lumped as a subspecies of the scale-throated earthcreeper, was designated as a distinct species again in the early 2000s. This determination was based on differences in its morphology, song, breeding habitat, and migration patterns.[7]