A New Subspecies of Brown banded Antpitta Grallaria Milleri from Antioquia, Colombia

SUMMARY.—A new subspecies of Brown-banded Antpitta Grallaria milleri is described from the northern Central Andes of Colombia, based on a single specimen at The Natural History Museum, Tring, collected in 1878 at Santa Elena, dpto. Antioquia. The new subspecies is separable from G. m. milleri, which occurs 140 km further south in the Central Andes, by its considerably shorter tarsus, longer wing and longer tail. Other possible hypotheses for the type specimen’s morphology, such as hybridisation or clinal variation, are not supported. Searches at the type locality and in the surrounding region (which are largely deforested at suitable elevations) have failed, suggesting that the new taxon may be either highly endangered or already extinct. Although the new antpitta appears likely to be a phylogenetic species, subspecies rank is assigned conservatively. Its taxonomic rank and status will require review should an extant population be discovered. Antpittas (Grallariidae) reach their greatest diversity at high elevations in the northern Andes. Although previously treated as part of the Thamnophilidae or Formicariidae,