A 2026 taxonomic study proposed treating this bird, formerly a subspecies of the Grey Antbird, as a separate species. The paper describes a light-gray southern Amazonian morph and places it in Brazil south of the Amazon. Historical records from the Aripuanã River basin include the canopy and tall secondary growth.
The 2026 study describes the southern Amazonian form as a light-gray morph. Females in the examined series varied in orange tones; the authors caution that related southern forms cannot always be separated by morphology alone.
A 1975 survey of the Aripuanã River basin recorded it in tall secondary growth and the forest canopy, foraging among dense foliage.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.