New species of antshrike

In connection with the development of a management plan for the Parque Nacional da Serra do Divisor, Acre, western Brazil, an 18-day avifaunal inventory was held in July 1996 in the northern part of the park. During this survey, a striking new Thamnophilus antshrike was discovered in one of the easternmost mountain ridges of the Serra do Divisor and it was recently described as Acre Antshrike Thamnophilus divisorius (Whitney, B M, Oren, D C & Brumfield, R T 2004. A new species of Thamnophilus antshrike (Aves: Thamnophilidae) from the Serra do Divisor, Acre, Brazil. Auk 121: 1031-1039).
Although the new species is only known from its type locality, it is expected to occur also in other similar mountain ridges of the so-called 'Acre Arch uplands'. This is all within the Parque Nacional da Serra do Divisor, which is considered as one of the most biologically diverse areas of the world. Several initiatives are being carried out to increase the level of protection of this region, such as relocating resident families to places outside the boundaries of the park, building monitoring stations which will be run by local people, and the implementation of the management plan, including the development of some ecotourism. Because of these initiatives, the authors are optimistic about the future survival of the region's extraordinary biodiversity and, therefore, of the new species. ANDRÉ J VAN LOON