For one of my research projects I have been compiling data on
relative toe lengths of diferent bird species, using data from HANZAB
and the series on European/Western Palearctic birds.
I was looking at my database the other day, and saw that my entry
for _Nycticorax caledonicus_ (taken from HANZAB, I believe) gives the
length of the outer toe (digit IV) as 30% of the length of the middle
toe (digit III). This is CONSIDERABLY at variance with the values I
have for other species of _Nycticorax_ (76-78%). I was pretty careful
in copying down numbers from the sources, and I think I remember
noticing this at the time, and double-checking.
But if anybody on this list has HANZAB, would you kindly look up
the entry for _N. caledonicus_ and making sure that I took down the
numbers correctly?
And if I did, does it strike you as likely that this species
should have an outer toe length relatively so much shorter than in
other species of the genus? Or is this more likely a typographic
error in HANZAB?
Thanks.
Jim Farlow
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