Dead parrot surprises scientists

A parrot fossil dating back more than 16 million years has been found in Siberia in the first evidence that the tropical birds once lived so far north.

To borrow a phrase from Monty Python, this bird has ceased to be and gone to meet its maker.

But the dead parrot in question surprised scientists by shuffling off its mortal coil in Siberia more than 16 million years ago.

It is the first time a parrot fossil has been found in this region and suggests that the tropical birds were once widespread in Eurasia.

The single leg bone recovered from an island on Baikal Lake belonged to a small bird from the late Early Miocene epoch between 16 and 18 million years ago.

No other parrot fossil has been discovered so far north.

The find supports the theory that ancestors of modern parrots migrated from Asia to North America via the Berengia land bridge which once joined the two continents.

Today, parrots, or psittacines, make up almost 400 species that inhabit tropical and sub-tropical regions around the world.

Dr Nikita Zelenev, from the Russian Academy of Sciences in Moscow, wrote in the Royal Society journal Biology Letters: "The presence of parrots as far north as Siberia supports their broad geographical distribution in Asia during Miocene and may have implications for the historical biogeography of Psittacoidea."


Share

2 min read

Published

Source: AAP



Share this with family and friends


Get SBS News daily and direct to your Inbox

Sign up now for the latest news from Australia and around the world direct to your inbox.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

Download our apps
SBS News
SBS Audio
SBS On Demand

Listen to our podcasts
An overview of the day's top stories from SBS News
Interviews and feature reports from SBS News
Your daily ten minute finance and business news wrap with SBS Finance Editor Ricardo Gonçalves.
A daily five minute news wrap for English learners and people with disability
Get the latest with our News podcasts on your favourite podcast apps.

Watch on SBS
SBS World News

SBS World News

Take a global view with Australia's most comprehensive world news service
Watch the latest news videos from Australia and across the world