Curassows are one of the three major groups of
cracidThe chachalacas, guans and curassows are birds in the family Cracidae.These are species of tropical and subtropical Central and South America. One species, the Plain Chachalaca, just reaches southernmost Texas in the USA...
birds. Three of the four
generaIn biology, a genus is a taxonomic unit used in the classification of living and fossil organisms. The term comes from Latin genus "descent, family, type, gender" , cognate with – genos, "race, stock, kin" ..In addition, genus is a taxonomic rank in the hierarchy In biology, a genus (plural:...
are restricted to tropical
South AmericaSouth America is the southern continent of the Americas, situated entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere...
; a single
speciesIn biology, a species is:* a taxonomic rank or* a unit at that rank ....
of
Crax ranges north to
MexicoThe United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
. They form a distinct
cladeA clade is a term used in modern alpha taxonomy, the scientific classification of living and fossil organisms, to describe a monophyletic group, defined as a group consisting of a single common ancestor and all its descendants.[The term "monophyletic group" is used in this article...]
which is usually classified as the subfamily
Cracinae.
- Genus Nothocrax
- Nocturnal Curassow
The Nocturnal Curassow is a species of bird in the Cracidae family.It is found in Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela....
,
Nothocrax urumutum
Genus Mitu Mitu is a genus of curassows, large South America birds in the family Cracidae. Its members are:* Crestless Curassow, Mitu tomentosa* Alagoas Curassow, Mitu mitu - extinct in the wild * Salvin's Curassow, Mitu salvini...
- Crestless Curassow
The Crestless Curassow is a species of bird in the Cracidae family.It is found in Brazil, Colombia, Guyana, and Venezuela.Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.-References:...
, Mitu tomentosa
- Alagoas Curassow
The Alagoas Curassow, Mitu mitu, is a large, up to 89 cm long, pheasant-like bird with a whitish-tipped red bill, black glossed purplish blue plumage, chestnut under-belly, reddish brown iris and fourteen pale brown-tipped tail feathers. It has a unique bare greyish crescent-shaped ear patch not...
, Mitu mitu - extinct in the wildExtinct in the Wild is a conservation status assigned to species or lower taxa, the only known living members of which are being kept in captivity or as a naturalized population outside its historic range.-Species examples:...
(mid-late 1980s)
- Salvin's Curassow
The Salvin's Curassow is a species of bird in the Cracidae family.It is found in Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru.Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.-References:...
, Mitu salvini
- Razor-billed Curassow
The Razor-billed Curassow is a species of bird in the Cracidae family.It is found in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru.Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.-References:...
, Mitu tuberosa
Genus PauxiThe genus Pauxi consist of the two species of helmeted curassows, terrestrial black fowl with ornamental casque on their heads. Both are found in South America.This genus contains only 2 species, namely...
– Helmeted curassows
- Northern Helmeted Curassow or simply Helmeted Curassow,
Pauxi pauxi
Southern Helmeted Curassow{Taxobox| name = Southern Helmeted Curassow| status = EN | status_system = IUCN3.1| regnum = Animalia| phylum = Chordata| classis = Aves| ordo = Galliformes| familia = Cracidae| genus = Pauxi| species = P...
or Horned Curassow, Pauxi unicornis
Genus CraxCrax is a genus of curassows from tropical South America. Only the Great Curassow ranges north through Central America as far as Mexico.The variety of male bill ornament shapes and colors is typical for this genus, as is a curly crest and a contrasting white or rufous crissum...
- Great Curassow
The Great Curassow is a large, black pheasant-like bird with a yellow knob on its bill, curly black feather crests, and white below. Together with a few other curassows, it is among the largest members of the family Cracidae, at 78–92 cm and a weight of up to 4.8 kg...
, Crax rubra
- Blue-billed Curassow
The Blue-knobbed Curassow or Blue-billed Curassow is a species of bird in the Cracidae family, which includes the chachalacas, guans, and curassows....
, Crax alberti
- Yellow-knobbed Curassow
The Yellow-knobbed Curassow is a large species of bird found in forest and woodland in Colombia and Venezuela. It feeds mainly on the ground, but flies up into trees if threatened. Its most striking features are its crest, made of feathers that curl forward, and the fleshy yellow knob at the base...
, Crax daubentoni
- Wattled Curassow
The Wattled Curassow is a threatened member of the family Cracidae, the curassows, guans, and chachalacas. It is found in remote rainforests in the western Amazon Basin in South America.-Description:...
, Crax globulosa
- Red-billed Curassow
The Red-knobbed Curassow or Red-billed Curassow, Crax blumenbachii, is an endangered species of Cracid that is endemic to lowland Atlantic Forest in the states of Espírito Santo, Bahia and Minas Gerais in southeastern Brazil. Its population is decreasing due to hunting and deforestation, and it has...
Crax blumenbachii
- Bare-faced Curassow
The Bare-faced Curassow is a species of bird in the Cracidae family, the chachalacas, guans, curassows, etc.It is found in eastern-central and southern Brazil, Paraguay, and eastern Bolivia, and extreme northeast Argentina, in the cerrado, pantanal, and the southeastern region of the Amazon...
, Crax fasciolata
- Black Curassow
The Black Curassow is a species of bird in the Cracidae family, the chachalacas, guans, and curassows. It is found in humid forests in northern South America in Colombia, Venezuela, the Guianas and far northern Brazil...
, Crax alector
In line with the other 3 main lineages of cracids (
chachalacaChachalacas are one of the groups of cracid birds. They all belong into the genus Ortalis. They were formerly united with the similar-looking guans into a subfamily, but are probably closer to the curassows ....
s, true
guanThe guans are a number of bird genera which make up the largest group in the family Cracidae. They are found mainly in northern South America, southern Central America, and a few adjacent Caribbean islands...
s, and the
Horned GuanThe Horned Guan, Oreophasis derbianus is a large, approximately 85cm long, turkey-like bird with glossed black upperparts plumage, red legs, white iris, yellow bill and a red horn on top of head. The breast and upper belly are white, and its long tail feathers are black with white band near base....
), mt and nDNA
sequenceA DNA sequence or genetic sequence is a succession of letters representing the primary structure of a real or hypothetical DNA molecule or strand, with the capacity to carry information as described by the central dogma of molecular biology....
data indicates that the curassows diverged from their closest living relatives (probably the guans) at some time during the
OligoceneThe Oligocene is a geologic epoch of the Paleogene period and extends from about 33.9 million to 23 million years before the present. As with other older geologic periods, the rock beds that define the period are well identified but the exact dates of the start and end of the period are slightly...
, or c.35–20
myaIn astronomy, geology, and paleontology, mya or "m.y.a." is an abbreviation for "million years ago". Like the related unit bya, mya is traditionally written in lower case...
(Pereira
et al. 2002).
Curassows are one of the three major groups of
cracidThe chachalacas, guans and curassows are birds in the family Cracidae.These are species of tropical and subtropical Central and South America. One species, the Plain Chachalaca, just reaches southernmost Texas in the USA...
birds. Three of the four
generaIn biology, a genus is a taxonomic unit used in the classification of living and fossil organisms. The term comes from Latin genus "descent, family, type, gender" , cognate with – genos, "race, stock, kin" ..In addition, genus is a taxonomic rank in the hierarchy In biology, a genus (plural:...
are restricted to tropical
South AmericaSouth America is the southern continent of the Americas, situated entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere...
; a single
speciesIn biology, a species is:* a taxonomic rank or* a unit at that rank ....
of
Crax ranges north to
MexicoThe United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
. They form a distinct
cladeA clade is a term used in modern alpha taxonomy, the scientific classification of living and fossil organisms, to describe a monophyletic group, defined as a group consisting of a single common ancestor and all its descendants.[The term "monophyletic group" is used in this article...]
which is usually classified as the subfamily
Cracinae.
- Genus Nothocrax
- Nocturnal Curassow
The Nocturnal Curassow is a species of bird in the Cracidae family.It is found in Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela....
,
Nothocrax urumutum
Genus Mitu Mitu is a genus of curassows, large South America birds in the family Cracidae. Its members are:* Crestless Curassow, Mitu tomentosa* Alagoas Curassow, Mitu mitu - extinct in the wild * Salvin's Curassow, Mitu salvini...
- Crestless Curassow
The Crestless Curassow is a species of bird in the Cracidae family.It is found in Brazil, Colombia, Guyana, and Venezuela.Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.-References:...
, Mitu tomentosa
- Alagoas Curassow
The Alagoas Curassow, Mitu mitu, is a large, up to 89 cm long, pheasant-like bird with a whitish-tipped red bill, black glossed purplish blue plumage, chestnut under-belly, reddish brown iris and fourteen pale brown-tipped tail feathers. It has a unique bare greyish crescent-shaped ear patch not...
, Mitu mitu - extinct in the wildExtinct in the Wild is a conservation status assigned to species or lower taxa, the only known living members of which are being kept in captivity or as a naturalized population outside its historic range.-Species examples:...
(mid-late 1980s)
- Salvin's Curassow
The Salvin's Curassow is a species of bird in the Cracidae family.It is found in Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru.Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.-References:...
, Mitu salvini
- Razor-billed Curassow
The Razor-billed Curassow is a species of bird in the Cracidae family.It is found in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru.Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.-References:...
, Mitu tuberosa
Genus PauxiThe genus Pauxi consist of the two species of helmeted curassows, terrestrial black fowl with ornamental casque on their heads. Both are found in South America.This genus contains only 2 species, namely...
– Helmeted curassows
- Northern Helmeted Curassow or simply Helmeted Curassow,
Pauxi pauxi
Southern Helmeted Curassow{Taxobox| name = Southern Helmeted Curassow| status = EN | status_system = IUCN3.1| regnum = Animalia| phylum = Chordata| classis = Aves| ordo = Galliformes| familia = Cracidae| genus = Pauxi| species = P...
or Horned Curassow, Pauxi unicornis
Genus CraxCrax is a genus of curassows from tropical South America. Only the Great Curassow ranges north through Central America as far as Mexico.The variety of male bill ornament shapes and colors is typical for this genus, as is a curly crest and a contrasting white or rufous crissum...
- Great Curassow
The Great Curassow is a large, black pheasant-like bird with a yellow knob on its bill, curly black feather crests, and white below. Together with a few other curassows, it is among the largest members of the family Cracidae, at 78–92 cm and a weight of up to 4.8 kg...
, Crax rubra
- Blue-billed Curassow
The Blue-knobbed Curassow or Blue-billed Curassow is a species of bird in the Cracidae family, which includes the chachalacas, guans, and curassows....
, Crax alberti
- Yellow-knobbed Curassow
The Yellow-knobbed Curassow is a large species of bird found in forest and woodland in Colombia and Venezuela. It feeds mainly on the ground, but flies up into trees if threatened. Its most striking features are its crest, made of feathers that curl forward, and the fleshy yellow knob at the base...
, Crax daubentoni
- Wattled Curassow
The Wattled Curassow is a threatened member of the family Cracidae, the curassows, guans, and chachalacas. It is found in remote rainforests in the western Amazon Basin in South America.-Description:...
, Crax globulosa
- Red-billed Curassow
The Red-knobbed Curassow or Red-billed Curassow, Crax blumenbachii, is an endangered species of Cracid that is endemic to lowland Atlantic Forest in the states of Espírito Santo, Bahia and Minas Gerais in southeastern Brazil. Its population is decreasing due to hunting and deforestation, and it has...
Crax blumenbachii
- Bare-faced Curassow
The Bare-faced Curassow is a species of bird in the Cracidae family, the chachalacas, guans, curassows, etc.It is found in eastern-central and southern Brazil, Paraguay, and eastern Bolivia, and extreme northeast Argentina, in the cerrado, pantanal, and the southeastern region of the Amazon...
, Crax fasciolata
- Black Curassow
The Black Curassow is a species of bird in the Cracidae family, the chachalacas, guans, and curassows. It is found in humid forests in northern South America in Colombia, Venezuela, the Guianas and far northern Brazil...
, Crax alector
Evolution
In line with the other 3 main lineages of cracids (
chachalacaChachalacas are one of the groups of cracid birds. They all belong into the genus Ortalis. They were formerly united with the similar-looking guans into a subfamily, but are probably closer to the curassows ....
s, true
guanThe guans are a number of bird genera which make up the largest group in the family Cracidae. They are found mainly in northern South America, southern Central America, and a few adjacent Caribbean islands...
s, and the
Horned GuanThe Horned Guan, Oreophasis derbianus is a large, approximately 85cm long, turkey-like bird with glossed black upperparts plumage, red legs, white iris, yellow bill and a red horn on top of head. The breast and upper belly are white, and its long tail feathers are black with white band near base....
), mt and nDNA
sequenceA DNA sequence or genetic sequence is a succession of letters representing the primary structure of a real or hypothetical DNA molecule or strand, with the capacity to carry information as described by the central dogma of molecular biology....
data indicates that the curassows diverged from their closest living relatives (probably the guans) at some time during the
OligoceneThe Oligocene is a geologic epoch of the Paleogene period and extends from about 33.9 million to 23 million years before the present. As with other older geologic periods, the rock beds that define the period are well identified but the exact dates of the start and end of the period are slightly...
, or c.35–20
myaIn astronomy, geology, and paleontology, mya or "m.y.a." is an abbreviation for "million years ago". Like the related unit bya, mya is traditionally written in lower case...
(Pereira
et al. 2002). This data must be considered preliminary until corroborated by material (e.g.
fossilFossils are the preserved remains or traces of animals, plants, and other organisms from the remote past. The totality of fossils, both discovered and undiscovered, and their placement in fossiliferous rock formations and sedimentary layers is known as the fossil record...
) evidence however.
What appears certain from analysis of the molecular data, calibrated against geological events that would have induced
speciationSpeciation is the evolutionary process by which new biological species arise. The biologist Orator F. Cook seems to have been the first to coin the term 'speciation' for the splitting of lineages or 'cladogenesis,' as opposed to 'anagenesis' or 'phyletic evolution' occurring within lineages...
is that there are 2 major lineages of curassows: one containing only
Crax, and another made up of
Mitu and
Pauxi. The position of the peculiar Nocturnal Curassow is not well resolved; it might be closer to the latter, but in any case, it diverged around the same time as the split between the two major lineages. All curassow genera appear to have diverged, in fact, during the
TortonianThe Tortonian is in the geologic timescale an age or stage of the late Miocene that spans the time between 11.608 ± 0.005 Ma and 7.246 ± 0.005 Ma . It follows the Serravallian and is followed by the Messinian....
(early Late
MioceneThe Miocene is a geological epoch of the Neogene period and extends from about 23.03 to 5.33 million years before the present . The Miocene was named by Sir Charles Lyell. Its name comes from the Greek words and and means "less recent" because it has 18% fewer modern sea invertebrates than the...
): the initial split took place some 10–9
myaIn astronomy, geology, and paleontology, mya or "m.y.a." is an abbreviation for "million years ago". Like the related unit bya, mya is traditionally written in lower case...
, and
Pauxi diverged from
Mitu some 8–7.4 mya (but see genus article).(Pereira & Baker 2004)
Unlike the other cracids,
biogeographyBiogeography is the study of the distribution of biodiversity over space and time. It aims to reveal where organisms live, and at what abundance....
and phylogeny indicate that the extant lineages of curassows probably originated in the lowlands of the western/northwestern
AmazonasThe Amazon Basin is the part of South America drained by the Amazon River and its tributaries. The basin is located mainly in Brazil, but also stretches into Peru and several other countries. The South American rain forest of the Amazon is the largest in the world, covering about...
basinDepression in geology is a landform sunken or depressed below the surrounding area. Depressions may be formed by various mechanisms, and may be referred to by a variety of technical terms.*A basin may be any large sediment filled depression...
, most likely in the general area where today, the borders of
BrazilBrazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is a country in South America. It is the fifth largest country by geographical area, occupying nearly half of South America, the fifth most populous country, and the fourth most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Atlantic Ocean...
,
PeruPeru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean.Peruvian territory was home to the Norte Chico...
,
ColombiaColombia , officially the Republic of Colombia , is a constitutional republic in northwestern South America. Colombia is bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the northwest by Panama; and to the west by the Pacific Ocean...
and
VenezuelaVenezuela , officially titled Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It is a continental mainland with numerous islands located off its coastline in the Caribbean Sea...
meet. In the two larger genera, vicariant speciation seems to have played a major role.(Pereira
et al. 2002, Pereira & Baker 2004)