Psittrichasiidae Explained

Psittrichasiidae is a family of birds belonging to the superfamily of the true parrots (Psittacoidea).^[1] It is a very small family, the smallest of the three families of the true parrots. It is divided into two subfamilies: Psittrichasinae and Coracopsinae,^[1] that contain a single genus each. The first contains a single species, native to New Guinea, and the second contains four living species distributed throughout Madagascar and other islands of the Indian Ocean.

Genera

The family Psittrichasiidae contains two subfamilies:

Subfamily Psittrichasinae:

• Genus Psittrichas
  • Psittrichas fulgidus - Pesquet's parrot

Subfamily Coracopsinae

• Genus Coracopsis
  • Coracopsis barklyi - Seychelles black parrot
  • Coracopsis nigra - Lesser vasa parrot
  • Coracopsis vasa - Greater vasa parrot
  • Coracopsis sibilans - Comoros black parrot (split from Coracopsis nigra)

Recent studies indicate that the extinct Mascarene parrot (Mascarinus mascarinus) was closely related to the members of Coracopsis.^[2]

Notes and References

1. Leo Joseph, Alicia Toon, Erin E. Schirtzinger, Timothy F. Wright, Richard Schodde. 2012. A revised nomenclature and classification for family-group taxa of parrots (Psittaciformes) Zootaxa 3205: 26–40.
2. Kundu, S.; Jones, C. G.; Prys-Jones, R. P.; Groombridge, J. J. (2011). "The evolution of the Indian Ocean parrots (Psittaciformes): Extinction, adaptive radiation and eustacy". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 62 (1): 296–305. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2011.09.025.