Palaeontologists announced they’ve discovered the largest parrot that ever lived, which they named after the Greek god Heracles in reference to its enormous size and strength
Palaeontologists announced they’ve discovered the largest parrot that ever lived, which they named after the Greek demi-godArtist’s reconstruction of the giant parrot, dwarfing a bevy of 8cm high Kuiornis -- small prehistoric wrens that lived 9–16 million years ago on New Zealand -- scuttling about on the forest floor.Islands are natural laboratories for a variety of fascinating avian evolutionary experiments, particularly islands that lack mammalian predators.
Many islands were home to enormous bird species before marauding humans wiped them out. In addition to the famous dodo of Mauritius Island, another giant pigeon lived on an island in the Fiji Archipelago, a giant stork was found on Flores island, giant ducks on Hawaii, a giant flightless swan on Malta, and giant owls and eagles on the islands in the Caribbean, where they preyed on giant rodents that also lived there.
“Not only moa dominated avifaunas, but giant geese and adzebills shared the forest floor, while a giant eagle ruled the skies,” said the lead author of the study, avian palaeontologist Trevor Worthy, an associate professor atNew Zealand is special because its isolation from other landmasses prevented mammals from reaching it . This allowed birds to diversify in peace into a wide array of sizes and ecological specialties.
Palaeontologists searching for fossils using sieves along the banks of the Manuherikia River at Saint Bathans.Nicrawlence via a Creative Commons licenseparrot fossils were unearthed near Saint Bathans, an abandoned gold mining town located on an ancient lakebed near Central Otago on New Zealand’s South Island. The site, now a ghost town, is well-known for its abundant fossil deposits from the early Miocene, including plants, crocodiles, bats, and a particularly rich assemblage of bird fossils.
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