gnateater (or antpipit) family of small, plump-bodied birds of Central and South America. The two genera (Conopophaga and Corythopsis) were separated from the antbird family (Formicariidae) in 1882 and raised to family rank. Research in the late 1960s, however, led to its dissolution; the Conopophaga (gnateater) were then returned to the Formicariidae, and the Corythopsis were assigned to the family of New World flycatchers (Tyrannidae).