The Squamate Antbird occurs in southeastern Brazil. Males have a black throat grading into scaly marks on the white belly; females have whitish underparts with faint marks.
A male's black throat grades into black scalloping on the white lower belly. Females have whitish underparts with lighter scalloping.
It uses moist lowland forest and woodland with dense low vegetation. A field report from Cananeia, São Paulo, recorded low movements near the ground, tail flicking, and arthropod gleaning from leaves and bark.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.