Dapple-throat Arcanator orostruthus Scientific name definitions

The Dapple-throat is a highly elusive passerine that inhabits the understory of wet montane forest in five areas in Tanzania and northern Mozambique, generally from 1,300–1,900 meters elevation. A population in the East Usambara Mountains northeastern Tanzania, close to the coast, where the limits of montane forest are lower than on mountains farther inland, occurs at only 900–1,020 meters.

It occurs at low-density in most of its range, but is quite common on Mt. Namuli and locally in the Udzungwa Mountains. Four of the five populations are small or very small, with only the population in the Udzungwa Mountains in central Tanzania numbering several thousand birds. Its IUCN Red List conservation status is assessed as Near Threatened because its small and fragmented range is declining in both extent and quality.

Over time, the Dapple-throat has been attributed to greenbuls, thrushes, and babblers before being assigned to its own family Modulatricidae in 2015, together with the Spot-throat (Modulatrix stictigula) and the Gray-chested Babbler (Kakamega poliothorax). The members of the Modulatricidae family are believed to be ancient relic taxa from the earliest songbird radiation in Africa.