Curassow

Curassows are one of the three major groups of cracid birds. They are the largest-bodied species of the cracid family. Three of the four genera are restricted to tropical South America; a single species of Crax ranges north to Mexico. They form a distinct clade which is usually classified as the subfamily Cracinae. {| class="wikitable" |- ! Image !! Genus !! Living species |- |120px||Nothocrax || Nocturnal curassow, Nothocrax urumutum |- |120px||Mitu || Crestless curassow, Mitu tomentosum Alagoas curassow, Mitu mitu - extinct in the wild (mid-late 1980s) Salvin's curassow, Mitu salvini Razor-billed curassow, Mitu tuberosum |- |120px||Pauxi – Helmeted curassows || Helmeted curassow, or Northern Helmeted Curassow Pauxi pauxi Horned curassow or Southern Helmeted Curassow, Pauxi unicornis Sira curassow, Pauxi koepckeae |- |120px||Crax || Great curassow, Crax rubra Blue-billed curassow, Crax alberti Yellow-knobbed curassow, Crax daubentoni Wattled curassow, Crax globulosa Red-billed curassow Crax blumenbachii Bare-faced curassow, Crax fasciolata Black curassow, Crax alector Belem curassow, Crax pinima |- |}

==Evolution== In line with the other three main lineages of cracids (chachalacas, true guans, and the horned guan), mt and nDNA sequence data indicates that the curassows diverged from their closest living relatives (probably the guans) at some time during the Oligocene, or c.35–20 mya (Pereira et al. 2002). This data must be considered preliminary until corroborated by material (e.g. fossil) evidence however.