A distinctive new subspecies of Scytalopusgriseicollis (Aves, Passeriformes, Rhinocryptidae) from the northern Eastern Cordillera of Colombia and Venezuela

We describe a new subspecies of Pale-bellied Tapaculo Scytalopusgriseicollis from the northern Eastern Cordillera of Colombia and Venezuela. This form differs diagnosably in plumage from described subspecies Scytalopusgriseicollisgriseicollis and Scytalopusgriseicollisgilesi and from the latter in tail length. It is also differentiated non-diagnosably in voice from both these populations. Ecological niche modelling analysis suggests that the new subspecies is restricted to the Andean montane forest and páramo north of both the arid Chicamocha valley and the Sierra Nevada del Cocuy.