Gmelin based his description on "Le tinamou cendré" from French Guiana that had been described in 1778 by the French polymath Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon in his Histoire Naturelle des Oiseaux.
Gmelin's description was derived from "Le tinamou cendré," which was documented in French Guiana in 1778 by the French polymath Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon within his work on the Natural History of Birds.