[4][5][6] A molecular phylogenetic study published in 2014 found that Cercomacra, as then defined, was polyphyletic.

Females have a rufous-tinged tawny crown; their upperparts and wings are brownish olive with a small white interscapular patch.

[8][9][10] The riparian antbird is found from southern Amazonas Department in extreme southeastern Colombia south through far eastern Ecuador, eastern Peru, and southwestern Amazonian Brazil into northeastern Bolivia as far as Cochabamba Department.

It almost exclusively inhabits riverside várzea forest and thickets on river islands; in southeastern Peru it also occurs in stands of bamboo.

[1] It is considered generally fairly common though sparse in Ecuador and uncommon and local in Peru.

Its "[p]reference for second-growth and edge habitats renders it less vulnerable to disturbance than are most antbirds".