A keratinolytic, nocardioform actinomycete, strain D2(T), was isolated from Kuwait marsh soil by the bait technique using animal wool. Strain D2(T) was an aerobic, Gram-positive organism that produced light-grey aerial mycelium but no specific spore chains. 16S rDNA sequence analyses and chemotaxonomic markers were consistent with the classification of strain D2(T) in the genus Amycolatopsis, i.e. it had meso-diaminopimelic acid in its peptidoglycan, arabinose and galactose as its diagnostic sugars, the polar lipids phosphatidylinositol, phosphatidylethanolamine, hydroxyphosphatidylethanolamine and diphosphatidylglycerol, menaquinone MK-9(H4) and an iso-/anteiso-branched fatty acid pattern combined with 10-methyl-branched and 2-hydroxy-branched fatty acids. Amycolatopsis japonica was the closest phylogenetic neighbour of strain D2(T), showing 99.4% 16S rDNA sequence similarity with the novel strain. A. japonica and strain D2(T) could be clearly separated from each other on the basis of their low DNA-DNA reassociation value (55.9%). These data, together with its distinct physiological traits, led to the conclusion that strain D2(T) represented a novel species within the genus Amycolatopsis, for which the name Amycolatopsis keratiniphila (type strain D2(T) = DSM 44409(T) = NRRL B24117(T)) is proposed.