The New Zealand raven (''Corvus antipodum'') was native to the

North Island The North Island, also officially named Te Ika-a-Māui, is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but much less populous South Island by the Cook Strait. The island's area is , making it the world's 14th-largest ...

and

South Island The South Island, also officially named , is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand in surface area, the other being the smaller but more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

but has been extinct since the 16th century. There were two

subspecies In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species ...

: the North Island raven (''Corvus antipodum antipodum'') and the South Island raven (''Corvus antipodum pycrofti''). Another closely related

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

, the

Chatham raven The Chatham raven (''Corvus moriorum'') is a prehistoric raven formerly native to the Chatham Islands (New Zealand). The closely related New Zealand raven, ''C. antipodum'' occurred in the North and South Islands of New Zealand. ''C. antipodum' ...

(''Corvus moriorum''), occurred on the

Chatham Islands The Chatham Islands ( ) (Moriori: ''Rēkohu'', 'Misty Sun'; mi, Wharekauri) are an archipelago in the Pacific Ocean about east of New Zealand's South Island. They are administered as part of New Zealand. The archipelago consists of about te ...

. The

holotype A holotype is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism, known to have been used when the species (or lower-ranked taxon) was formally described. It is either the single such physical example (or illustration) or one of several ...

of the South Island raven (''Corvus antipodum pycrofti'') is in the collection of the

Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa The Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa is New Zealand's national museum and is located in Wellington. ''Te Papa Tongarewa'' translates literally to "container of treasures" or in full "container of treasured things and people that spring fr ...

. New Zealand ravens were large corvids with long, broad bills that were not as arched as those of some of the

Hawaiian crow The Hawaiian crow or alalā (''Corvus hawaiiensis'') is a species of bird in the crow family, Corvidae, that is currently extinct in the wild, though reintroduction programs are underway. It is about the size of the carrion crow at in length, b ...

s (''Corvus hawaiiensis''). They were significantly smaller than the Chatham Island raven, and the South Island subspecies was rather larger than the North Island subspecies. Remains of New Zealand ravens are most common in

Pleistocene The Pleistocene ( , often referred to as the ''Ice age'') is the geological Epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 2,580,000 to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was fina ...

and

Holocene The Holocene ( ) is the current geological epoch. It began approximately 11,650 cal years Before Present (), after the Last Glacial Period, which concluded with the Holocene glacial retreat. The Holocene and the preceding Pleistocene togethe ...

coastal sites. On the coast, it may have frequented seal and penguin colonies or fed in the intertidal zone, as does the Tasmanian forest raven ''Corvus tasmanicus''. It may also have depended on fruit, like the

New Caledonian crow The New Caledonian crow (''Corvus moneduloides'') is a medium-sized member of the family Corvidae, native to New Caledonia. The bird is often referred to as the 'qua-qua' due to its distinctive call. It eats a wide range of food, including many ...

''Corvus moneduloides'', but it is difficult to understand why a fruit eater would have been most common in coastal forest and shrubland when fruit was distributed throughout the forest. DNA evidence suggests that its closest relatives aside from the Chatham raven is the clade containing the

Forest raven The forest raven (''Corvus tasmanicus''), also commonly known as the Tasmanian raven, is a passerine bird in the family Corvidae native to Tasmania and parts of southern Victoria, such as Wilsons Promontory and Portland. Populations are also fou ...

Little raven The little raven (''Corvus mellori'') is a species of the family Corvidae that is native to southeastern Australia. An adult individual is about in length, with completely black plumage, beak, and legs; as with all Australian species of ''Corv ...

and

Australian raven The Australian raven (''Corvus coronoides'') is a passerine bird in the genus ''Corvus'' native to much of southern and northeastern Australia. Measuring in length, it has all-black plumage, beak and mouth, as well as strong grey-black legs and ...

, from which it split around 2 million years ago. The morphology and ossification of the

palate The palate () is the roof of the mouth in humans and other mammals. It separates the oral cavity from the nasal cavity. A similar structure is found in crocodilians, but in most other tetrapods, the oral and nasal cavities are not truly sepa ...

is unusual among corvids, suggesting a unique dietary adaption, perhaps for scavenging large hard food items.

Gallery

File:MA I061788 TePapa Corvus-antipodum-pycrafti full.jpg, ''Corvus antipodum pycrafti'' holotype File:Corvus antipodum (AM LB9237).jpg, ''Corvus antipodum'' bones collected from the

Aupouri Peninsula The Aupouri Peninsula is a tombolo at the northern tip of the North Island of New Zealand. It projects between the Tasman Sea to the west and the Pacific Ocean to the east. It constitutes the northern part of the Far North District, incorporat ...

File:MA I360025 TePapa Corvus-antipodum-pycrafti full.jpg, Underside view of ''Corvus antipodum pycrafti'' skull

References

* Gill, B. J. 2003. "Osteometry and systematics of the extinct New Zealand ravens (Aves: Corvidae: Corvus)". ''Journal of Systematic Palaeontology'' 1: 43–58. * Worthy, T.H., Holdaway R.N., 2002, ''The Lost World of the Moa: Prehistoric Life of New Zealand'', Indiana University Press, Bloomington. .

External links

''New Zealand Raven. Corvus antipodum.''
by Paul Martinson. Artwork produced for the book ''Extinct Birds of New Zealand'', by Alan Tennyson, Te Papa Press, Wellington, 2006
The Extinction Website
{{Taxonbar, from=Q1892017 Corvus Extinct birds of New Zealand Holocene extinctions Late Quaternary prehistoric birds Ravens

Gallery

See also

References

External links