The genus was erected by the German ornithologists Jean Cabanis and Ferdinand Heine in 1860 with the white-browed antbird as the type species.[1][2] The genus name is a combination of two Greek words: murmos, meaning "ant" and -boros (from "bibros"), meaning "-devouring".[3]
The white-lined antbird was previously placed in the genus Percnostola but a genetic study published in 2013 found that it is embedded within Myrmoborus.[5]