Cryptic treehunter


The cryptic treehunter is an extinct species of bird in the family Furnariidae. It was endemic to Brazil.

Description

The species was described from a specimen that formerly had been identified as an Alagoas foliage-gleaner. Its taxonomic status is still controversial.

Distribution and habitat

The species has only been recorded from two sites with humid forest habitat in northeast Brazil, Murici in Alagoas and Frei Caneca in Pernambuco.

Conservation

Although formally described in 2014, the cryptic treehunter was last seen in the wild in 2007. The species was provisionally classified by the IUCN as Critically Endangered in 2018, but may already be extinct. A 2018 study citing bird extinction patterns and the lack of any confirmed sightings since 2007 but suggests it went extinct earlier. In 2019, the IUCN classified this bird as extinct.