Corvus viriosus (Robust Crow)

[Melanie]

This species was described based on a partial skeleton collected on July 26,1977 at Barbers Point, Oahu by Storrs L. Olson. The bones were in perfect condition. The partial skeleton of this bird was found on the floor of the cavern near the bones of a specimen of C. impluviatus. Bones of this species were also found at Moomomi dunes and Ilio Point, Molokai. The Latin name ,viriosus, means strong or robust and refers to the larger size of this species compared to C. hawaiiensis. C. viriosus was described as a large species of Corvus with a long, straight bill.

The most obvious way to distinguish the three Hawaiian species of Corvus is by bill shape C. hawaiiensis with a short, moderateley arched bill; C. impluviatus with a high, impressively arched bill; and C. viriosus with a long, relatively straight bill. The authors of Descriptions of 32 new Species of Birds from the Hawaiian Islands write," Our impression is that the Hawaiian crows probably did not arise from Near arctic ancestors but may very well have been derived from Australasia, much like Chasiempis and the Hawaiian Meliphagidae.

[another specialist]

Corvus viriosus
Olson & James 1991
Holocene of Oahu and Molokai, Hawaiian Islands
Primary materials: Holotype: partial skeleton
Secondary materials: Paratype: damaged cranium

Storrs L. Olson & Helen F. James,
Descriptions of thirty-two new species of birds from the Hawaiian Islands: Part II. Passeriformes
Ornithological Monographs 46 (1991)
The American Ornithologists' Union, Washington D.C.

[cryptodude100]

Does anyone have any new information on the extinct hawaiian crows? online PDF's? How about size of the birds or measurements on the skulls or body weight? Just anything would be appreciated. Thank You!

[cryptodude100]

I guess nobody knows

[another specialist]

source for melanies top entry

www.oahunaturetours.com/corvusviriosus.html

[another specialist]

SYSTEMATIC PALEONTOLOGY
Order PASSERIFORMES
Family CORVIDAE
Genus Corvus Linnaeus, 1758
Two new species of crows in lowland fossil sites on Oahu and Molokai (Olson
and James 1982a, b, 1984) are known from associated fossil skeletons preserved
so well as to rival the best skeletal preparations in modern museum collections.
These fossils were collected under water in a flooded cavern near Barbers Point,
Oahu. We have designated specimens from this cavern as the holotypes for both
of the new species, although one of the species is known so far from Oahu only
from the holotype, and occurs far more abundantly in the dune sites on Molokai.
Bones of crows have also been found in lava tubes on Maui (James et al. 1987)
12 ORNITHOLOGICAL MONOGRAPHS NO. 46
and Hawaii. These are all isolated elements or fragmentary skeletons that need
further study before they can be identified to species with reasonable assurance.
We compared the new Hawaiian crows to all other species of Corvus that occur
in the Pacific Basin and peripheral continental areas, except two geographically
restricted species for which specimens were not available.
To simplify our diagnoses, we can eliminate the following species from further
discussion. The new Hawaiian crows are markedly larger than Corvus dauuricus,
C. moneduloides, C. enca, C. typicus, C. kubaryi (bill also narrower), C. frugilegus,
C. brachyrhynchos, C. caurinus, C. imparatus, C. orru, C. torquatus (bill also less
deep), or C. cryptoleucus. The bills of the new species are deeper than in C.
coronoides, C. mellori, C. torquatus, or C. validus. Compared to the new species,
Corvus corone has the ventral surface of the maxilla less excavated, the nostril
longer, and the bill less deep; C. bennetti has a smaller bill; and C. tristis has the
mandible less deep and the sternum relatively large in proportion to humerus
length.
Comparative material examined: The complete skeleton of Corvus hawaiiensis
that we used in our comparisons, USNM 501638, is from an atypically small
male bird. We supplemented this specimen by vemoving the skull, mandible, and
several long bones from the skin of a large male ofC. hawaiiensis, USNM 177993.
Specimens of C. fiorensis (restricted to Flores in the Lesser Sundas) and C. fuscicapillus
(restricted to parts of New Guinea and its satellites) were not available
for comparison. Skeletal material from the Smithsonian collections included: C.
dauuricus male, 292083; females, 292082, 319401. C. moneduloides male, 561635;
female, 561634. C. enca male, 225830; unsexed, 224802. C. typicus male, 226205
(trunk only). C. kubaryi unsexed, 613280. C. validus males, 557299, 557300,
558297; females, 489028, 557301. C. tristis female, 489028. C. frugilegus males,
290314, 291673. C. brachyrhynchos male, 554206; female, 499510. C. caurinus
males, 561899, 612996; females, 612993, 612995. C. corone male, 500773; unsexed,
289948. C. macrorhynchos males, 290456, 292081, 500768; females,
290955, 500774; unsexed, 318366. C. orru male, 559044, females, 558338, 559045.
C. torquatus males, 289947, 291412, 292078; female, 292858. C. cryptoleucus
males, 553971, 553972, 553973, 555254; females, 498679, 554139. C. corax
males, 489704, 499938; female, 555261; unsexed, 18622, 290441. Of C. moriorum,
we examined the following subfossil specimens: NMNZ S 962, skull and
partial skeleton; AU 6120, partial postcranial skeleton; AU 6121.16, mandible;
CMC AV3310, skull and partial skeleton. We also made comparisons with study
skins of the following species in the Smithsonian collections: C. hawaiiensis (12
specimens), C. woodfordi, C. meeki, C. imparatus, C. bennettL C. coronoides, and
C. mellori.

[another specialist]

Corvus viriosus, new species
(Figs. 3C, 4C, 5C, 6C, 7C, 8C, F)
"Corvus sp., slender-billed" Olson and James, 1982b:38, 44; 1984:771.
Holotype: Partial skeleton, USNM 386435. Collected 26 July 1977 by Storrs
L. Olson. The specimen includes the cranium with the maxilla attached (Figs.
3C, 4C, 5C), the palatines, the mandible (Figs. 3C, 6C), the furcula, sternum, and
pelvis, four complete ribs and some rib fragments, two thoracic and one caudal
vertebrae plus the pygostyle, the right humerus (Fig. 7C), ulna, and carpometacarpus;
the left coracoid, radius and first phalanx of the major alar digit; the left
femur (Fig. 8C), and both tibiotarsi and tarsometatarsi (Fig. 8F). The bones, which
are darker in color and more striated than most other crow bones from the site,
are in nearly perfect condition. The skull of this bird was found on the floor of
the cavern near the skull and other bones of a specimen of C. impluviatus..The
mandible and postcranial bones were retrieved from a nearby hole and crevice
into which they had slipped.
Type locality: Flooded cavern, Site 50-Oa-B6-139, Barbers Point, Oahu, Hawaiian
Islands.
Distribution: Oahu: Barbers Point (holotype only). Molokai: Moomomi dunes
and Ilio Point.
Etymology: Latin, viriosus, robust, strong; from the larger size of this species
compared to C. hawaiiensis and from the sturdy construction of the cranium and
mandible of Hawaiian corvids generally.
Measurements (ram) ofholotype: Maxilla: length from anterior narial opening,
46.5; maximum width, 27.0; width of nasofrontal hinge, 22.8; height through
lateral nasal bar, 23.3; length of narial opening, 17.6; height of narial opening,
9.6. Cranium: length from supraoccipital to nasofrontal hinge, 44.0; length from
supraoccipital to bill tip, i12.6; orbit length (ectethmoid to postorbital process),
24.3; width of frontal between orbit rims, 21.3; width posterior to postorbital
processes, 41.0; height from basitemporal plate to skull roof, 28.7; length of
basitemporal plate {anterior margin of basitemporal plate to posterior extremity
of occipital condyle), 14.7; width between external rims of the articular faces for
the quadrates, 38.2. Mandible: length of tomial crest, 56.4; symphysis length,
28.2; greatest width of mandible, 42.3; width ofarticular end with medial process,
16.2; height at angle of mandible, 14.0; greatest height of sub-rhamphothecal
ramus, 13.2.
Sternum: width below costal facets, 30.3; length of carina, 56.8; depth of carina,
17.4. Coracoid: width of sternal end, 13.2. Humerus: length, 76.1; proximal width,
20.0; length ofdeltoid crest, 18.6; mid-shaft width, 6.4; distal width, 18.0. Ulna:
length, 86.8; proximal width, 11.6; distal width, 10.4. Carpometacarpus: proximal
depth, 12.8; distal depth, 11.8. Major alar digit, phalanx 1: length, 22.5. Pelvis:
width across antitrochanters, 38.1. Femur: length, 61.9; proximal width, 12.9;
mid-shaft depth, 5.1; distal width, 13.9. Tibiotarsus: proximai width, 17.3; length
from proximal articulation to distal fibular crest, 31.4; distal width, 11.4. Tarsometatarsus:
length, 68.0; proximal width, 11.9; mid-shaft width, 4.8; depth of
third trochlea, 5.4.
Paratype: Molokai: damaged cranium and associated bones, BBM-X 148156,
including part of the fused parietals and frontal with the maxilla attached, the
prepalatine bars, the quadrate, and the mandible lacking the right articular end
and half of the right dentary.
Measurements ofparatype.' Included in Table 1, along with measurements of
other specimens not listed as paratypes.
Diagnosis: A large species of Corvus with a long, straight bill. The bill is straighter
and the dorsal nasal bar is narrower than in C. woodfordi. The mandibular ramus
is deeper and the tarsometatarsus is shorter than in C. meeki. The interorbital
fenestra is smaller and the narial opening is less elongate anteroposteriorly than
in C. macrorhynchus, C. corax, or C. moriorum. C. viriosus differs further from
C. macrorhynchus in having the maxillary rostrum less arched anteriorly; from
C. corax in having the bill deeper, the dorsal nasal bar broader, and the membranes
in the nasal cavities more extensively ossified; and from C. moriorum in having
the cranial fenestra smaller, the ossification of membranes in the nasal cavities
more extensive, the mandibular ramus deeper, and the articular end of the mandible
larger.
This species differs from C. hawaiiensis and C. impluviatus in having the bill
longer, straighter, and less deep (intermediate in C. hawaiiensis), with more pronounced
excavation of the ventral maxilla, narrower dorsal and lateral nasal bars
(also intermediate in C. hawaiiensis), a longer mandibular symphysis, the tomial
crest of the mandible nearly straight (gradually curved in C. hawaiiensis and C.
impluviatus), the slight ventral projection of the posterior fossa of the mandible
absent, the frontal less broad, the postorbital process slimmer, and the transpalatine
process square-tipped (broad and rounded in C. hawaiiensis and C. impluviatus).
The olecranal fossa of the humerus lacks the deep, rounded pit that is
present in C. hawaiiensis and C. impluviatus.
C. viriosus differs further from C. impluviatus, but agrees with C. hawaiiensis,
in having a narrower dorsal nasal bar, a relatively slim zygomatic process, a stouter
olecranon, and a shorter and broader posterior projection of the ilium.
Remarks: The most obvious way to distinguish the three Hawaiian species of
Corvus is by bill shape: C. hawaiiensis has a short, moderately arched bill; C.
impluviatus has a high, impressively arched bill; and C. viriosus has a long, relatively
straight bill. On average, the long bones of C. viriosus are intermediate in
length between the smaller C. hawaiiensis and the larger C. impluviatus, although
there is some overlap with either species (Table 1).
The osteological comparisons we made for the purpose ofdiagnosing new species
were not sufficiently comprehensive to determine the phylogenetic position
of the Hawaiian crows relative to species of Corvus outside the archipelago. Our
impression is that the Hawaiian crows probably did not arise from Nearctic
ancestors but may very well have been derived from Australasia, much like
Chasiernpis and the Hawaiian Meliphagidae. We are less confident than previously
(Olson and James 1982b:51) that more than one colonizing species gave rise to
the Hawaiian corvids.

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all from

elibrary.unm.edu/sora/om/om046.pdf.