Editing Common raven (section)

== Taxonomy ==
The common raven was one of the many species originally described, with its [[Type locality (biology)|type locality]] given as Europe, by [[Carl Linnaeus]] in his landmark 1758 [[10th edition of Systema Naturae|10th edition of ''Systema Naturae'']], and it still bears its original name of ''Corvus corax''.<ref>{{cite book | last=Linnaeus | first=Carl | author-link=Carl Linnaeus | title=Systema naturae per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis. Tomus I. Editio decima, reformata. | publisher=Holmiae. (Laurentii Salvii). | year=1758| page=105 | quote = C. ater, dorso caerulescente, cauda subrotundata.|language=la}}</ref> It is the [[type species]] of the genus ''[[Corvus]]'', derived from the [[Latin]] word for 'raven'.<ref>{{cite book | last = Simpson | first = D. P. | title = Cassell's Latin Dictionary | publisher = Cassell Ltd. | year = 1979 | edition = 5th | location = London | page = 155 | isbn = 978-0-304-52257-6}}</ref> The specific epithet ''corax'' is the Latinized form of the [[Greek language|Greek]] word {{lang|el|κόραξ}}, meaning 'raven' or 'crow'.<ref name=Liddell1980>{{LSJ|ko/rac|κόραξ|ref}}.</ref>

The modern English word ''raven'' has cognates in many other [[Germanic languages]], including [[Old Norse]] (and subsequently [[Icelandic language|modern Icelandic]]) {{lang|non|hrafn}}<ref name=OED>{{Cite OED| Raven}}</ref> and [[Old High German]] {{lang|goh|(h)raban}},<ref name=OED/> all which descend from [[Proto-Germanic]] {{lang|gem|*khrabanas}}.<ref>{{cite web| title=Raven| work=Online Etymology Dictionary| url=http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=raven| access-date=2007-05-14}}</ref> An old [[Scots language|Scottish]] word {{lang|sco|corby}} or {{lang|sco|corbie}}, akin to the French {{lang|fr|corbeau}}, has been used for both this bird and the [[carrion crow]].<ref>[[#Goodwin|Goodwin]], p. 144</ref> [[Collective noun]]s for a group of ravens (or at least the common raven) include "unkindness"<ref>{{cite web|url=http://baltimorebirdclub.org/gnlist.html | title=Baltimore Bird Club. Group Name for Birds: A Partial List | access-date=2007-06-03}}</ref> and "conspiracy".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ucgc.org/terms-for-collections.htm |title=University of California Golf Club. List of Collective Nouns |access-date=2008-07-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100213074513/http://www.ucgc.org/terms-for-collections.htm |archive-date=2010-02-13 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

=== Classification ===
The closest relatives of the common raven are the [[brown-necked raven]] (''C. ruficollis''), the [[pied crow]] (''C. albus'') of Africa, and the [[Chihuahuan raven]] (''C. cryptoleucus'') of the North American Southwest.<ref>[[#Goodwin|Goodwin]], pp. 70–72</ref> Most authorities, including the IOC World Bird List and the ''[[Handbook of the Birds of the World]]'', currently accept 11 [[subspecies]],<ref name="IOC">{{cite web | title=IOC World Bird List – Jayshrike, shrikes, crows, mudnesters, melampittas, Ifrit, birds-of-paradise | website=IOC World Bird List – Version 14.2 | date=2024-08-17 | url=https://www.worldbirdnames.org/new/bow/crows/ | access-date=2024-11-27}}</ref><ref name=HBW>Marzluff, J. M. (2009). "Common Raven (''Corvus corax'')". pp.&nbsp;638–639 in ''[[Handbook of the Birds of the World]]''. Bush-shrikes to Old World Sparrows. del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A. and Christie, D. A. (eds.). Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. {{ISBN|978-84-96553-50-7}}</ref> though some only accept eight;<ref name=Clements>Clements, J. F. (2007). ''The Clements Checklist of the Birds of the World.'' 6th edition. Christopher Helm. {{ISBN|978-0-7136-8695-1}}</ref> of the six subspecies accepted by IOC and ''HBW'' in the [[Western Palearctic]] region, only four are accepted by Shirihai.<ref name="Shirihai">{{cite book | last1=Shirihai | first1=Hadoram | last2=Svensson | first2=Lars | title=Handbook of Western Palearctic birds. volume 2: Passerines: flycatchers to buntings | publisher=Helm | publication-place=London Oxford New York New Delhi Sydney | date=2019 | isbn=978-1-4729-3737-7 | pages=268–271}}</ref>
{| class="wikitable"
!Scientific name
!Image
!Distribution
!Notes
|-
| valign="top" |{{nowrap|''C. c. principalis'' <small>Ridgway, 1887</small>}}
|[[File:MK04400 Raven (Jasper National Park).jpg|140 px]] <br/>Jasper National Park, Alberta, Canada
| valign="top" | Northern North America and [[Greenland]], south to the Appalachian Mountains in the east
| valign="top" | Large body and the largest bill, its plumage is strongly glossy, and its throat hackles are well-developed.<ref name="HBW" />
|-
| valign="top" |{{nowrap|''C. c. sinuatus'' <small>Wagler, 1829</small>}}
|[[File:Parking Lot Raven Curious 2019-10-29.jpg|140 px]] <br/>Bryce Canyon, Utah, USA
| valign="top" | South-central North America from SW Canada through the western USA (except California) and Mexico (except Baja California) to Central America
| valign="top" | Smaller, with a smaller and narrower bill than ''C. c. principalis''.<ref name="HBW" />
|-
| valign="top" |{{nowrap|''C. c. clarionensis'' <small>Rothschild & E. J. O. Hartert, 1902</small>}}
|[[File:Corvus corax clarionensis, Point Reyes National Seashore.jpg|140 px]] <br/>Point Reyes, California, USA
| valign="top" | Far southwestern U.S. (California) and northwestern Mexico (Baja California and the [[Revillagigedo Islands]])
| valign="top" | Populations in this area are the smallest ravens in North America. They are sometimes included in ''C. c. sinuatus'',<ref name="Clements"/> but are genetically distinct from that and other subspecies, more closely related to the [[chihuahuan raven]] ''C. cryptoleucus'' (see [[Common raven#Evolutionary history|Evolutionary history]], below).<ref name="Omland2000"/>
|-
| valign="top" |{{nowrap|''C. c. varius'' <small>Brünnich, 1764</small>}}
| [[File:Corvus corax in Akureyri 7.jpeg|140 px]] <br/>Akureyri, Iceland
| valign="top" | [[Iceland]] and the [[Faroe Islands]]
| valign="top" | Less glossy than ''C. c. principalis'' or the nominate subspecies ''C. c. corax'', is intermediate in size, and the bases of its neck feathers are whitish (not visible at a distance). An [[extinct]] pied [[Polymorphism (biology)|colour morph]] found only on the Faroe Islands was known as the [[pied raven]] (''C. c. varius'' morpha ''leucophaeus''; the black colour morph being ''C. c. varius'' morpha ''varius'').<ref name="cornell">{{cite journal |url=https://birdsoftheworld.org/bow/species/comrav/cur/systematics |last1=Boarman | first1=W I| last2=Heinrich | first2=B | year=2020 | title=Common Raven (''Corvus corax''), version 1.0| editor1-last=del Hoyo | editor1-first=Josep | editor2-last=Elliott | editor2-first=Andrew | editor3-last=Sargatal | editor3-first=Jordi | editor4-last=Christie | editor4-first=David A | editor5-last=de Juana | editor5-first=Eduardo | journal=Birds of the World | location=Ithaca, NY, USA | publisher=Cornell Lab of Ornithology | doi=10.2173/bow.grswoo.01 |s2cid=226025386 | url-access=subscription }}</ref>
|-
|valign="top" |{{nowrap|''C. c. corax'' <small>Linnaeus, 1758</small>}}
|[[File:Korp Northern Raven, Lindome, Göteborg, Sweden (20342909272).jpg|140 px]] <br/>Gothenburg, Sweden
|valign="top" | Northern and central Europe eastwards to [[Lake Baikal]], south to the [[Caucasus]] region and northern [[Iran]]
|valign="top" | Large, with a relatively short, arched bill. <ref name="HBW" />
|-
|valign="top" |{{nowrap|''C. c. hispanus'' <small>E. J. O. Hartert & O. Kleinschmidt, 1901</small>}}
|[[File:Common Raven - Catalan Pyrenees - Spain MG 4399 (25099147132).jpg|140 px]] <br/>Pyrenees in Catalonia, Spain
|valign="top" | Southwestern Europe from Iberia to Italy, and including the [[Balearic Islands]], [[Corsica]] and [[Sardinia]]
|valign="top" | An even more arched bill and shorter wings than the nominate.<ref name="HBW" /> Some authors include it in nominate ''C. c. corax''.<ref name="Shirihai"/>
|-
| valign="top" |{{nowrap|''C. c. laurencei'' <small>Hume, 1873</small>}}
|[[File:Punjab Raven (36590467474).jpg|140 px]] <br/>Tal Chhapar, Rajasthan, India
| valign="top" | Across southern Asia from Turkey and Cyprus east to western China and northwestern India; in the [[Indian subcontinent]] only at low altitudes, below 600 m (cf. ''C. c. tibetanus'', over 2,500 m).<ref name="Kazmierczak">{{cite book | last1=Kazmierczak | first1=Krys | last2=Perlo | first2=Ber van | title=A field guide to the birds of the Indian subcontinent | publisher=Yale University Press | publication-place=New Haven | date=2000 | isbn=0-300-07921-4 | page=204}}</ref> Birds in eastern Greece in southeast Europe are also included in this subspecies by some authors,<ref name="IOC"/> but others include them in nominate ''C. c. corax''.<ref name="Shirihai"/>
| valign="top" | Slightly larger than the nominate subspecies, but has relatively short throat hackles. Its plumage is generally all black, though its neck and breast have a brownish tone similar to that of the [[brown-necked raven]]; this is more evident when the plumage is worn. The bases of its neck feathers, although somewhat variable in colour, are often almost whitish. Based on the population from [[Sindh]] described by [[Allan Octavian Hume|Hume]] in 1873;<ref name="pcr">{{cite book|author1=Rasmussen, PC |author2=Anderton, JC| year=2005| title=Birds of South Asia: The Ripley Guide. Volume 2|publisher=Smithsonian Institution & Lynx Edicions| pages=600–601}}</ref> sometimes incorrectly treated as "''C. c. subcorax''", but the type specimen of ''Corvus subcorax'' collected by [[Nikolai Severtzov]] is a [[brown-necked raven]].<ref name="Shirihai"/> The population in the [[Sindh]] district of Pakistan and the adjoining regions of northwestern India is sometimes known as the Punjab raven.<ref name="hbk">{{cite book|author1=Ali, S |author2=S D Ripley| title=Handbook of the birds of India and Pakistan|edition=2nd|publisher=Oxford University Press|volume= 5|year= 1986|pages =261–265}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{cite journal|author=Eates, KR |year=1939 |title= The distribution and nidification of the Indian (Punjab) Raven (''Corvus corax laurencei'' Hume) in Sind|journal= Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society|volume=40|issue=4|pages=747–750|url=https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/47591964}}</ref>
|-
| valign="top" |{{nowrap|''C. c. tingitanus'' <small>Irby, 1874</small>}}
|[[File:Corvus corax tingitanus, Boutlélis, Algeria 1.jpg|140 px]] <br/>Boutlélis, Algeria
| valign="top" | North Africa
| valign="top" | The smallest subspecies, with the shortest throat hackles and a distinctly oily plumage gloss. Its bill is short but markedly stout, and the [[Culmen (bird)|culmen]] is strongly arched.<ref name="HBW" />
|-
| valign="top" |{{nowrap|''C. c. canariensis'' <small>E. J. O. Hartert & O. Kleinschmidt, 1901</small>}}
|[[File:Corvus corax, Cumbre Vieja 03.jpg|140 px]] <br/>Cumbre Vieja, La Palma, Canary Islands
| valign="top" | [[Canary Islands]]
| valign="top" | A small subspecies, similar to ''C. c. tingitanus'' but with browner plumage. Its bill is short but markedly stout, and the [[Culmen (bird)|culmen]] is strongly arched.<ref name="HBW" /> Some authors include it in ''C. c. tingitanus''.<ref name="Shirihai"/> Birds on Fuerteventura have been described as a separate subspecies ''C. c. jordansi'' <small>Niethammer, 1953</small>, but this is not accepted by any of the major authorities.<ref name="Shirihai"/>
|-
|valign="top" |{{nowrap|''C. c. tibetanus'' <small>Hodgson, 1849</small>}}
|valign="top" | [[File:Corvus corax tibetanus.jpg|140 px]] <br/>Khardung La, India
|valign="top" | The [[Himalaya]], at high altitudes 2,500–5,000 (–8,000) m (cf. ''C. c. laurencei'' below 600 m in this region)<ref name="Kazmierczak"/>
|valign="top" | The largest and glossiest subspecies, with the longest throat hackles. Its bill is large, but less imposing than that of ''C. c. principalis''; the bases of its neck feathers are grey.<ref name=HBW/>
|-
|valign="top" |{{nowrap|''C. c. kamtschaticus'' <small>Dybowski, 1883</small>}}
|[[File:Corvus corax kamtschaticus, nortern Mongolia.JPG|140 px]] <br/>Northern Mongolia
|valign="top" | Northeastern Asia
|valign="top" | Intergrades into the nominate subspecies in the [[Lake Baikal]] region. It is intermediate in size between ''C. c. principalis'' and ''C. c. corax'' and has a distinctly larger and thicker bill than the nominate subspecies does.<ref name=HBW/>
|}

=== Evolutionary history ===
The common raven evolved in the [[Old World]] and crossed the [[Bering land bridge]] into North America.<ref>[[#Marzluff|Marzluff and Angell]], p. 86</ref> Recent genetic studies, which examined the [[DNA]] of common ravens from across the world, have determined that the birds fall into at least two [[clade]]s: a [[California]] clade (subspecies ''C. c. clarionensis''), found only in the southwestern United States, and a [[Holarctic]] clade, found across the rest of the Northern Hemisphere. Birds from both clades look alike, but the groups are genetically distinct and began to diverge about two million years ago.<ref name=USGS/><ref name="Omland2000">{{cite journal |author= Omland KE|author2= Tarr CL|author3= Boarman WI|author4= Marzluff JM|author5= Fleischer RC |year=2000 |title=Cryptic genetic variation and paraphyly in ravens |journal=[[Proceedings of the Royal Society B]] |volume=267 |issue= 1461|pages=2475–2482|doi=10.1098/rspb.2000.1308 |pmid= 11197122 |pmc= 1690844}}</ref>

The findings indicate that based on [[mitochondrial DNA]], common ravens from the rest of North America are more closely related to those in Europe and Asia, than to those in the California clade, and that common ravens in the California clade are more closely related to the [[Chihuahuan raven]] (''C. cryptoleucus'') than to those in the Holarctic clade.<ref name=USGS>{{cite web|url=http://www.werc.usgs.gov/news/2000-12-19.html|title=California Ravens Are a Breed Apart|access-date=2007-05-11|author=US Geological Survey|archive-date=2017-07-08|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170708043602/https://www.werc.usgs.gov/news/2000-12-19.html|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="Omland2000"/> Ravens in the Holarctic clade are more closely related to the [[pied crow]] (''C. albus'') than they are to the California clade.<ref name="Feld05">{{cite journal| last=Feldman| first=Christopher R.|author2=Omland, Kevin E. |date=March 2005| title=Phylogenetics of the common raven complex (''Corvus'': Corvidae) and the utility of ND4, COI and intron 7 of the β-fibrinogen gene in avian molecular systematics| journal=Zoologica Scripta|volume=34| issue=2| pages=145–156|doi=10.1111/j.1463-6409.2005.00182.x| s2cid=85196387}}</ref> Thus, the common raven species as traditionally delimited is considered to be [[paraphyletic]].<ref name=Feld05/>

One explanation for these genetic findings is that common ravens settled in California at least two million years ago and became separated from their relatives in Europe and Asia during a [[glacial period]]. One million years ago, a group from the California clade evolved into a new species, the Chihuahuan raven. Other members of the Holarctic clade arrived later in a separate migration from Asia, perhaps at the same time as humans and [[wolf|wolves]] about 15,000 years ago.<ref name=HBW/><ref>[[#Marzluff|Marzluff and Angell]], pp. 86–87</ref>

A 2011 study suggested that there are no restrictions on [[gene flow]] between the Californian and Holarctic common raven groups, and that the lineages can remerge, effectively reversing a potential speciation.<ref name= random>{{cite journal | last1 = Webb | first1 = William C. | last2 = Marzluff | first2 = John M. | last3 = Omland | first3 = Kevin E. | title = Random interbreeding between cryptic lineages of the Common Raven: evidence for speciation in reverse | journal = Molecular Ecology| volume = 20 | issue = 11| pages =2390–2402 | year = 2011 | doi = 10.1111/j.1365-294X.2011.05095.x | pmid = 21518060| bibcode = 2011MolEc..20.2390W | s2cid = 7684306 }}</ref>

A recent study of raven mitochondrial DNA showed that the isolated population from the [[Canary Islands]] is distinct from other populations.<ref name="Bakom06">{{cite journal| last=Baker| first=Jason M.|author2=Omland, Kevin E. |date=January 2006| title=Canary Island Ravens ''Corvus corax tingitanus'' have distinct mtDNA| journal=Ibis|volume=148| issue=1| pages=174–178| doi=10.1111/j.1474-919X.2006.00493.x}}</ref> The study did not include any individuals from the North African population,<ref name="Bakom06"/> and its position is therefore unclear, though its [[Morphology (biology)|morphology]] is very close to the population of the Canaries (to the extent that the two are often considered part of a single subspecies).<ref name=Clements/>