Kurrartapu johnnguyeni is an extinct species of bird in the Australian magpie and butcherbird family. It was described from Early Miocene material (a proximal tarsometatarsus) found at Riversleigh in north-western Queensland, Australia. It is the first Tertiary record of a cracticid from Australia. The size of the fossil material indicates that it was similar in size to the living black butcherbird. The generic name is a Kalkatungu language term for the Australian magpie. The specific epithet honours John Nguyen, the father of the senior describer. Description Based on shared traits between the black butcherbird and Australian magpie it is possible that the Kurrartapu also shared their glossy dark feathers and had calls similar to modern currawongs. Contemporary cracticid colouration ranges from predominantly black with some white to gray. Round wings, like those of the black butcherbird and peltops, are typical of denser forest inhabitatants, and the closed rainforest that covered Australia in the early miocene make this trait far more likely than pointy wings, which are characteristic of other open-dwelling cracticids. Bones Regarding bones, the discovered proximal tarsometatarsus demonstrates similar elongation to that of the black butcherbird. This predates previously believed divergence between cracticids and the peltops and woodswallows. It is possible it also had a deep temporal fossa, as this trait is shared by black butcherbirds and Australian magpies today. The incomplete ossification found on the tarsometatarsi is an ancestral trait unique to the streptera-cracticus clade, for reference ossification of tendons in woodcreepers is shown to be adaptive for climbing, as ossification serves to reduce heavy wear and tear. Taxonomy The genus Kurrartapu belongs to the family Cracticidae. Kurrartapu are more closely related to other members of Cracticidae than those of artamidae. Cracticids include currawongs, butcherbirds, and peltops. Cracticids are part of the assemblage Malaconotoidea within Corvoidea. Corvoidea are believed to have originated in Australasia. Other members of Malaconotoidea include: the helmet shrikes, the batises, the vangas, the Asian ioras, the African bushshrikes, and the woodswallows. It is imagined that the last common ancestor of artamidae, vangas, and cracticids (alive in the paleogene) may have been stout with long pointy wings, a decurved bill, and sexually monomorphic. The woodswallows are sometimes grouped within the family cracticidae, though these two lineages may have diverged roughly 20-36.3 million years ago. This grouping is supported by morphological analyses and weakly supported by limited DNA studies, more comprehensive genetic analysis disproves this nesting,