Pteroptochidae The tapaculos /ˌtæpəˈkuːloʊz, ˌtɑːpɑː-/ or tapacolos /-ˈkoʊ-/[1][2] are a family, Rhinocryptidae, of small suboscine passerine birds, found mainly in South America and with the highest diversity in the Andean regions.

All tapaculos are skulking birds that frequently stay low in dense vegetation, even the larger, colorful species, and this renders them difficult to see.

The two critically endangered species are restricted to Atlantic forest of eastern Brazil, and were only recently rediscovered after several years without any records.

[7] The phylogenetic tree shown below is based on a large-scale genetic study of the suboscines by Michael Harvey and collaborators that was published in 2020.

The Brazilian taxa are similarly complex with several recently described species and considerable confusion surrounding the use of the scientific name Scytalopus speluncae.