Coua berthae is an extinct species of coua, a large, mostly terrestrial bird in the cuckoo family, from Madagascar. It was the largest member of its genus, living or extinct.
Alfred Grandidier discovered a complete tarsometatarsus at Apasambazimba as early as 1911. This bone is in the Academie Malgache and is now classified as a paratype. The holotype, a left half of the pelvis, was brought to light in 1983 in the Grotte d'Anjohibe near Andranoboka.
It is named after the Malagasy primatologist and palaeontologist, Bertha Rakotosamimanana.
Oviparous animals are female animals that lay their eggs, with little or no other embryonic development within the mother. This is the reproductive...
Altricial animals are those species whose newly hatched or born young are relatively immobile. They lack hair or down, are not able to obtain food ...
Terrestrial animals are animals that live predominantly or entirely on land (e.g., cats, ants, snails), as compared with aquatic animals, which liv...
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starts withDue to the length of the pelvis half of 68.2 millimetres (2.69 in) and the tarsometatarsus of 92.9 millimetres (3.66 in), it is assumed that Coua berthae represented the largest type of silk cuckoo. An estimated minimum weight of 740 grams (26 oz) was calculated from the comparison of the basin lengths of four recent types of silk cuckoo using linear regression. This estimated weight is twice that of Coua gigas - the largest of the living couas. Given that all silk cuckoo species have proportionally small wing bones, it has been assumed that Coua berthae was not a good flyer.
