Department of Zoology

Assistant Professor Pamela Rasmussen's research this past fall is the subject of a recent MSU Today article.  Professor Rasmussen provided conclusive evidence that a rare Indonesian bird -- the Banggai crow -- is not extinct, after all.

Previously known to science only by two specimens described in 1900, the rare bird Corvus unicolor was believed to be extinct.  Rasmussen studied the two century-old specimens in New York's American Museum of Natural History, and compared them to new crow specimens in Indonesia's national museum.

Despite similarities to a more common slender-billed crow (Corvus enca) also found in the Banggai Islands and also black, differences were identified, including eye color, confirming the identity of the new specimens.  Read more in MSU Today