Taxonomy
There are two subspecies:
- Mérida Helmeted Curassow, Pauxi pauxi pauxi
- Cordillera de Mérida into Cordillera Oriental, Colombia
- Casque larger, egg-shaped
- Perijá Helmeted Curassow, Pauxi pauxi gilliardi
- Serrania del Perija
- Casque smaller, less bulbous, rather cylindrical in shape.
Their evolutionary history is not well researched compared to other curassows. The helmeted curassows probably are a lineage of Late Miocene (Tortonian-Messinian, about 8-7 million years ago) origin. This species' present-day distribution suggests that it became isolated some 6 million years ago as its mountain range uplifted. It is not known when gene flow between the subspecies ceased.
Read more about this topic: Helmeted Curassow