Cuban palm crow explained

The Cuban palm crow (Corvus minutus) is a relatively small corvid that is endemic to the Caribbean island of Cuba.

Taxonomy

The Cuban palm crow was formally described in 1852 under the binomial name Corvus minutus by the German born ornithologist Juan Gundlach.^[1] The species is monotypic: no subspecies are recognised.^[2] The Cuban palm crow was formerly treated as a subspecies of the Hispaniolan palm crow (Corvus palmarum).^{[2] [3] [4]}

Despite being sympatric with the Cuban crow (Corvus nasicus) on Cuba, it appears to be more closely related to the fish crow (C. ossifragus) of the East Coast of the United States, as well as two smaller species, the Tamaulipas crow (C. imparatus) and Sinaloan crow (C. sinaloae) of Mexico, than the Cuban crow, which is more related to the white-necked crow (Corvus leucognaphalus) and the Jamaican crow (Corvus jamaicensis), the other two Caribbean corvids. This indicates two distinct arrivals of crows onto the island of Cuba (with the ancestor of the two palm crows being a later arrival), and a resulting niche differentiation, similar to C. leucognaphalus and C. palmarum on Hispaniola.

The following cladogram is based on phylogenetic study of the Corvidae by Knud Jønsson and collaborators that was published in 2012.^[5]

Notes and References

1. Gundlach . John . Juan Gundlach . 1852 . Description of five new species of birds, and other ornithological notes of Cuban species . Boston Journal of Natural History . 6 . 3 . 313–319 [315] .
2. Web site: Gill . Frank . Frank Gill (ornithologist) . Donsker . David . Rasmussen . Pamela . Pamela Rasmussen . July 2023 . Crows, mudnesters, birds-of-paradise . IOC World Bird List Version 13.2 . International Ornithologists' Union . 6 November 2023 .
3. Chesser . R.T. . Billerman . S.M. . Burns . K.J. . Cicero . C. . Dunn . J.L. . Hernández-Baños . B.E. . Jiménez . R.A. . Kratter . A.W. . Mason . N.A. . Rasmussen . P.C. . Remsen . J.V.J. . Winker . K. . 2023 . Sixty-fourth supplement to the American Ornithological Society's Check-list of North American Birds . Ornithology . 140 . 3. 1–11 . 10.1093/ornithology/ukad023 . free .
4. Garrido . O.H. . Reynard . G.B. . Kirkconnell . A. . 1997 . Is the palm crow, Corvus palmarum (Aves: Corvidae), a monotypic species? . Ornitologia Neotropical . 8 . 15–21 .
5. Jønsson . K.A. . Fabre . P.-H. . Irestedt . M. . 2012 . Brains, tools, innovation and biogeography in crows and ravens . BMC Evolutionary Biology . 12 . 1 . 72 . 10.1186/1471-2148-12-72 . free . 22642364 . 3480872 . 2012BMCEE..12...72J .