New Ireland Crow (Corvus sp.)  

This probable species is known exclusively from well-preserved subfossil bones excavated from deposits on the island of New Ireland in the Bismarck Archipelago off the northeastern coast of New Guinea.  

The remains point towards a bird that was larger than the Torresian Crow (Corvus orru Bonaparte), the only crow now living on the island. They may represent the Grey Crow (Corvus tristis Lesson & Garnot), which is confined to mainland New Guinea, or a closely related form. [1]  

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[1] David W. Steadman; J. Peter White; Jim Allen: Prehistoric birds from New Ireland, Papua New Guinea: Extinctions on a large Melanesian island. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 96: 2563-2568. 1999  

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edited: 01.10.2017