The right to assign a scientific name to a newly discovered species of
endangered bird will be auctioned this week. In an unprecedented move, the Texas
Audubon Society in Austin is holding the auction in an effort to raise money for
habitat conservation in Texas and Brazil.
Traditionally, naming rights belong to the discoverer of a species. But Bret
Whitney, an Austin-based nature tour operator who found the new species of
antshrike in northwestern Brazil, offered to donate this privilege.
