The genus Syndactyla was introduced in 1853 by the German naturalist Ludwig Reichenbach to accommodate the buff-browed foliage-gleaner.[1][2] The name combines the Ancient Greek sun meaning "together" with daktulos meaning "toe".[3] Members of this genus are most closely related to the foliage-gleaners in the genus Anabacerthia.[4][5] The recurvebills, S. ucayalae and S. striata, were formerly placed in their own genus Simoxenops,[4] and S. roraimae was formerly placed in the genus Automolus.[6]