Centropus colossus Baird, 1985

Colossal cuckoo

Taxonomy & Nomenclature

Conservation Status

Extinct

Last record: Late Pleistocene

Distribution & Habitat

South Australia (south-eastern), Australia

Biology & Ecology

Hypodigm

Holotype: left humerus

Media

References

Original scientific description:

Baird, Robert F. (1985a). Avian fossils from Quaternary deposits in 'Green Waterhole Cave', south-eastern South Australia. Records of the Australian Museum 37(6): 353-370.

Other references:

Baird, Robert F. (1985b). Centropus Illiger, 1811: The Giant Coucal, pp. 205-208. In: Vickers-Rich, Patricia and van Tets, Gerard Frederick. (eds.). Kadimakara: Extinct Vertebrates of Australia. Lilydale, Victoria: Pioneer Design Studio. 284 pp.

Faurby, Søren, Matthews, Tom J., Triantis, Kostas A. and Sayol, Ferran. (2026). Quantifying the unrecorded loss of avian phylogenetic diversity. Ecography 2026: e08267. https://doi.org/10.1002/ecog.08267

Matthews, Thomas J., Triantis, Kostas A., Wayman, Joseph P., Martin, Thomas E., Hume, Julian P., Cardoso, Pedro, Faurby, Søren, Mendenhall, Chase D., Dufour, Paul, Rigal, François, Cooke, Rob, Whittaker, Robert J., Pigot, Alex L., Thébaud, Christophe, Jørgensen, Maria Wagner, Benavides, Eva, Soares, Filipa C., Ulrich, Werner, Kubota, Yasuhiro, Sadler, Jon P., Tobias, Joseph A. and Sayol, Ferran. (2024). The global loss of avian functional and phylogenetic diversity from anthropogenic extinctions. Science 386(6717): 55-60. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.adk7898 [Supplementary Materials; Dryad dataset; Zenodo codeset]

Matthews, Thomas J., Wayman, Joseph P., Cardoso, Pedro, Sayol, Ferran, Hume, Julian P., Ulrich, Werner, Tobias, Joseph A., Soares, Filipa C., Thébaud, Christophe, Martin, Thomas E. and Triantis, Kostas A. (2022). Threatened and extinct island endemic birds of the world: Distribution, threats and functional diversity. Journal of Biogeography 49(11): 1920-1940. https://doi.org/10.1111/jbi.14474 [Appendix S1 (.docx); Appendix S2 (.pdf)]

Reed, Elizabeth H. and Bourne, Steven J. (2000). Pleistocene fossil vertebrate sites of the south east region of South Australia. Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia 124(2): 61-90.

Sayol, Ferran, Steinbauer, Manuel J., Blackburn, Tim M.,  Antonelli, Alexandre and Faurby, Søren. (2020). Anthropogenic extinctions conceal widespread evolution of flightlessness in birds. Science Advances 6(49): eabb6095. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abb6095 [Supplementary Material (Data File S1)]

Shute, Elen, Prideaux, Gavin J. and Worthy, Trevor H. (2016). Three terrestrial Pleistocene coucals (Centropus: Cuculidae) from southern Australia: biogeographical andecological significance. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 177: 964-1002. https://doi.org/10.1111/zoj.12387

Tyrberg, Tommy. (2008). The Late Pleistocene Continental Avian extinction – an evaluation of the fossil evidence. Oryctos 7: 249-269.

Worthy, Trevor H. and Nguyen, Jacqueline M. T. (2020). An annotated checklist of the fossil birds of Australia. Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia 144(1): 66-108.

Worthy, Trevor H., Nguyen, Jacqueline M. T. and Travouillon, Kenny J. (2024). Checklist of the Fossil Bird Species of Australia. Available from: https://www.australasianpalaeontologists.com/national-fossil-species-lists [Accessed 24 November 2024]

Worthy, Trevor H., Nguyen, Jacqueline M. T. and Travouillon, Kenny J. (2025). Checklist of the Fossil Bird Species of Australia. Available from: https://www.australasianpalaeontologists.com/national-fossil-species-lists [Accessed 1 March 2025]

<< Back to the Cuculiformes (Anis, Couas, Cuckoos, Ground-Cuckoos etc.) database