The Comparative Osteology of European Corvids (Aves: Corvidae): With a Key to the Identification of Their Skeletal Elements

Although crows and allies belong to the birds whose many species have been studied in detail, there are still some gaps in our knowledge. We find the gaps as soon as we want to identify bony remains from archaeological or palaeontological sites.

Although very useful in some cases, the few papers dealing with the subject (e.g. Cohen & Serjeantson 1996; Cuisin 1989; Janossy 1962; Moreno 1986; Stegmann 1955) can be used only to a limited extent in determination of fossil finds because they either end up at family (genus) level or are confined to certain species, chosen bones or even chosen characters on bones.

The problem is quite serious because remains of corvids are found relatively often and, unfortunately in many cases, they are often pooled in one group "Corvidae indet" which results in the loss of data. A detailed, comparative study of all the skeletal elements of European corvids may help us understand some ecomorphological problems. The additional anatomical evidence can also be used to study the relationship and phylogeny of corvids.