Publication Type: | Journal Article |
Year of Publication: | 1952 |
Authors: | Berger, AJ |
Journal: | American Midland Naturalist |
Volume: | 47 |
Issue: | 3 |
Date Published: | 1952 |
ISBN Number: | 00030031 |
Keywords: | Crotophaga, Crotophaga sulcirostris, Cuculidae, Geococcyx, Geococcyx californianus |
Abstract: | Data presented here reveal a greater degree of individual variation in certain skeletal elements than literature on birds in general indicates. This is especially true of the number of fused vertebrae in the synsacrum and the number of free caudal vertebrae, the former varying from 11 to 13 and the latter from 4 to 6. Geococcyx californianus and Crotophaga sulcirostris possess 14 cervical vertebrae each, whereas two species of Coccyzus possess only 13 cervical vertebrae each. The cervical region seems to show little or no variation, in contrast with the more caudal portions of the vertebral column. Members of the three genera possess 4 dorsal vertebrae each. The length of the cranium is less variable than either the length of the synsacrum or the length of the dorsal vertebral region. |
URL: | http://www.jstor.org/stable/2422033 |
Short Title: | American Midland Naturalist |
Taxonomic name: