Psittacinae
| Afrotropical parrots | |
|---|---|
| |
| Jardine's parrot, (Poicephalus gulielmi) | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | |
| Phylum: | |
| Class: | |
| Order: | |
| Superfamily: | |
| Family: | |
| Subfamily: | Psittacinae
|
| Genera | |
Psittacinae is a subfamily of Afrotropical or Old World parrots; the eleven species are found in two genera. Among the species is the iconic African grey parrot. These parrots are native to sub-Saharan Africa, the island of Madagascar, and the Arabian Peninsula.
The Poicephalus are usually green birds with different colored heads; the larger Psittacus are light grey with red tails.
African parrots (at least the African gray parrot) have been known in Europe since Roman times.[1]
The African parrots, unlike their Neotropical cousins, are polyphyletic: Agapornis of Africa and Madagascar was found to be the sister group to Loriculus of Australasia and Indo-Malayasia and together they clustered with the Australasian Loriinae, Cyclopsittacini and Melopsittacus. Poicephalus and Psittacus from mainland Africa formed the sister group of the Neotropical Arinae and Coracopsis from Madagascar and adjacent islands may be the closest relative of Psittrichas from New Guinea.[2]
Taxonomy
This subfamily, together with its sister subfamily Arinae of Neotropical parrots, constitutes the family Psittacidae, one of three families of true parrots.
Genus Psittacus
- Psittacus erithacus, African grey parrot
- Psittacus timneh, Timneh parrot
Genus Poicephalus
- Poicephalus robustus, Cape parrot
- Poicephalus robustus robustus (nominate subspecies)
- Poicephalus robustus fuscicollis, brown-necked parrot (subspecies)
- Poicephalus robustus suahelicus, gray-headed parrot (subspecies)
- Poicephalus gulielmi, Jardine's parrot also known as the red-fronted parrot
- Poicephalus meyeri, Meyer's parrot
- Poicephalus rueppellii, Rüppell's parrot
- Poicephalus cryptoxanthus, brown-headed parrot
- Poicephalus rufiventris, red-bellied parrot
- Poicephalus senegalus, Senegal parrot
- Poicephalus flavifrons, yellow-fronted parrot
- Poicephalus crassus, Niam-Niam parrot
Traditionally, the Coracopsis genus (vasa parrots) is included in this subfamily, but recent molecular studies show that they are within a different family.
An extinct prehistoric monotypic genus Bavaripsitta has been described.
References
- ^ Boehrer, Bruce (2010). Parrot Culture: Our 2500-Year-Long Fascination with the World's Most Talkative Bird. U. Penn. Press.
- ^ Schweizer, M.; et al. (Mar 2010). "The evolutionary diversification of parrots supports a taxon pulse model with multiple trans-oceanic dispersal events and local radiations". Mol Phylogenet Evol. 54 (3): 984–94. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2009.08.021. PMID 19699808.