List of Corvus species

Summary

The following is a list of all currently recognized species within the passerine bird genus Corvus (the crows and ravens).

Skeleton of American crow (Museum of Osteology)

Living species edit

Listed alphabetically.[1][2]

Fossil forms edit

  • Corvus galushai – (fossil: Big Sandy Late Miocene of Wickieup, United States)
  • Corvus praecorax – (fossil: Early Pliocene of Perpignan, France; possibly a subspecies of C. corone/cornix)
  • Corvus simionescui – (fossil: Early Pliocene of Maluşteni-Bereşti, Romania; possibly a subspecies of C. corone/cornix)
  • Corvus hungaricus – (fossil: Late Pliocene/Early Pleistocene of Southern Europe; tentatively placed here)
  • Corvus moravicus – (fossil: Late Pliocene/Early Pleistocene of Central to Eastern Europe; possibly a subspecies of C. monedula)
  • Corvus pliocaenus – (fossil: Late Pliocene –? Early/Middle Pleistocene of Europe; possibly a subspecies of C. corone/cornix)
  • Corvus antecorax – (fossil: Late Pliocene – Late Pleistocene of Europe; may be C. janossyi, possibly a subspecies of C. corax)
  • Corvus bragai – (fossil: Pliocene/Pleistocene transition of South Africa)[4]
  • Corvus betfianus – (fossil: Early Pleistocene of Betfi, Romania; possibly a subspecies of C. corone/cornix)
  • Corvus fossilis – (fossil: Late Pleistocene Seveckenberg, Germany; probably a subspecies of C. corax)
  • Corvus neomexicanus – (fossil: Late Pleistocene of Dry Cave, United States)
  • Corvus antipodumNew Zealand raven (prehistoric: New Zealand)
  • Corvus impluviatushigh-billed crow (prehistoric: Hawaii)
  • Corvus moriorumChatham raven (prehistoric: the Chatham Islands, the southwestern Pacific)
  • Corvus pumilisPuerto Rican crow (prehistoric: Puerto Rico; possibly a subspecies of C. nasicus/palmarum)
  • Corvus viriosusrobust crow (prehistoric: Hawaii)
  • Corvus sp. – New Ireland crow (prehistoric: New Ireland, Melanesia)

The taxonomy of the C. antecorax/C. fossilis complex as well as the C. pliocaenus/C. betfianus/C. praecorax/C. simionescui, in particular the temporal succession and relationship to the living relatives, is not yet fully resolved. At least some of these "species" seem to have been direct ancestors of the living forms as listed above.

Former species edit

Formerly, some authorities also considered the following species as species within the genus Corvus:

References edit

  1. ^ a b Note: Both the Bougainville crow and the white-billed crow share the same alternate name "Solomon Islands crow". They both live on the Solomon Islands; the Bougainville crow in the north and the white-billed crow in the south.
  2. ^ John M. Marzluff; Tony Angell (2005). In the Company of Crows and Ravens. Yale University Press. pp. 72–79. ISBN 0-300-10076-0.
  3. ^ "Species Updates – IOC World Bird List". Retrieved 2021-05-29.
  4. ^ Pavia, Marco (2020-11-15). "Palaeoenvironmental reconstruction of the Cradle of Humankind during the Plio-Pleistocene transition, inferred from the analysis of fossil birds from Member 2 of the hominin-bearing site of Kromdraai (Gauteng, South Africa)". Quaternary Science Reviews. 248: 106532. doi:10.1016/j.quascirev.2020.106532. ISSN 0277-3791.