- Thick-billed Parrots
Taxobox
name = Thick-billed Parrots
image_width = 200px
image_caption =Thick-billed Parrot "Rhynchopsitta pachyrhyncha"
regnum =Animal ia
phylum =Chordata
classis =Aves
ordo =Psittaciformes
familia =Psittacidae
subfamilia =Psittacinae
tribus = Arini
genus = "Rhynchopsitta"
genus_authority = Bonaparte,1854
subdivision_ranks = Species
subdivision = See textThe Thick-billed Parrots are
parrot s of the genus "Rhynchopsitta". The genus includes just two species:
*Thick-billed Parrot , "Rhynchopsitta pachyrhyncha"
*Maroon-fronted Parrot , "Rhynchopsitta terrisi""Rhynchopsitta phillipsi", a larger prehistoric relative, was described from
Late Pleistocene fossils found inNuevo León ,Mexico . It was not an ancestor to the living species, as bones of them were also found atSan Josecito Cave when "R. phillipsi"'s remains were recovered. The prehistoric species had a rather distinct bill shape and may have occurredsympatric ally with theMaroon-fronted Parrot in the northernSierra Madre Oriental (Arroyo-Cabrales & Johnson 2003). Possibly, its bill was adapted to feeding on some species ofpine which disappeared due toclimate change at the end of thelast ice age , driving the species toextinct ion.References
* Arroyo-Cabrales, Joaquín & Johnson, Eileen (2003): Catálogo de los ejemplares tipo procedentes de la Cueva de San Josecito, Nuevo León, México. "Revista Mexicana de Ciencias Geológicas" 20(1): 79-93. [Spanish with English abstract] [http://satori.geociencias.unam.mx/20-1/(6)Arroyo.pdf PDF fulltext]
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