Quercypsitta

taxobox
name="Quercypsitta"
status = fossil
fossil_range = Late Eocene
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Aves
ordo = Psittaciformes
familia = Quercypsittidae
familia_authority = Mourer-Chauviré, 1992
genus = "Quercypsitta"
genus_authority = Mourer-Chauviré, 1992
subdivision_ranks = Species
subdivision = "Quercypsitta sudrei"
Mourer-Chauviré, 1992 (type)
"Quercypsitta ivani"
Mourer-Chauviré, 1992

"Quercypsitta" [
Etymology: "Quercypsitta", "Quercy parrot", from Quercy + Ancient Greek "psitta", "parrot".] is a genus of prehistoric bird from the Late Eocene (c.37-34 mya) Quercy phosphorites in France.

Known from rather fragmentary remains (some foot and wing bones for the type species "Q. sudrei", three coracoids for the species "Q. ivani"), it was described as a parrot sufficiently distinct to be included in its own family, the Quercypsittidae. These birds apparently formed an early offshoot of the parrots which spread to Europe and became extinct in the Miocene at latest. This coincided with a period of global cooling, when their relatives - the ancestors of the African and Asian parrots known today - had in the meantime settled the warmer areas south of the Quercypsittidae's distribution.

The genus "Palaeopsittacus" is sometimes included in the Quercypsittidae, but it is not certain that this bird was indeed a parrot (Dyke & Cooper 2000).

References

* (2000): A new psittaciform bird from the London Clay (Lower Eocene) of England. "Palaeontology" 43(2): 271-285. doi|10.1111/1475-4983.00126 (HTML abstract)

* (1992): Une nouvelle famille de Perroquets (Aves, Psittaciformes) dans l'Eocène supérieur des Phosphorites du Quercy. "Geobios, Mémoire Spécial" 14: 169-177.

Footnotes