Psittaciformes

Parrots, also known as psittacines from the name of the type genus Psittacus, are birds with a strong curved beak, upright stance, and clawed feet. They are classified in four families that contain roughly 410 species in 101 genera, found mostly in tropical and subtropical regions. The four families are the Psittaculidae, Psittacidae, Cacatuidae (cockatoos), and Strigopidae. One-third of all parrot species are threatened by extinction, with a higher aggregate extinction risk than any other comparable bird group. Parrots have a generally pantropical distribution with several species inhabiting temperate regions as well. The greatest diversity of parrots is in South America and Australasia.

Psittaciformes

Charles J. Sharp · CC BY-SA 4.0 · via Wikipedia/Commons. May be a photograph of a specimen, or an artist’s reconstruction — an interpretation of a skeleton, since colour and soft tissue are almost never preserved.

On record

Recorded, not inferred
Also called
parrotPBDB
Sits inside
PsittacimorphaePBDB
Diet
carnivorePBDB, for Coelurosauria
Life habit
ground dwelling, solitaryPBDB, for Theropoda
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Theropoda
Environment
terrestrialPBDB, for Theropoda

Time the record covers

At least 59 million years on record.

The record covers at least 59.24 Mya to 11.7 ka. No occurrence read is dated outside 61.66 Mya to 0 Mya.

Paleocene — about 1 of 287 occurrencesPaleoceneEocene — about 21 of 287 occurrencesEoceneOligocene — about 0 of 287 occurrencesMiocene — about 13 of 287 occurrencesMiocenePliocene — about 2 of 287 occurrencesPleistocene — about 66 of 287 occurrences63–61 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences61–59 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences57–55 Mya — about 3 occurrences55–52 Mya — about 5 occurrences52–50 Mya — about 5 occurrences50–48 Mya — about 5 occurrences48–46 Mya — about 1 occurrence46–44 Mya — about 0.9 occurrences44–42 Mya — about 0.9 occurrences42–40 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences19–17 Mya — about 9 occurrences17–15 Mya — about 4 occurrences6.3–4.2 Mya — about 0.7 occurrences4.2–2.1 Mya — about 2 occurrences2.1–0 Mya — about 249 occurrences59.24 Mya11.7 ka63 Mya0 Mya

287 occurrences of Psittaciformes on record. The Paleobiology Database records this as a living group. Bar height is expected occurrences, not a count: each fossil is spread across the span it is dated to, so a tall narrow bar means tight dating and a low wide one means loose.

When

287 occurrences

These are dates about fossils, not the animal: the record can only begin after it arose and end before it died out, so either end may reach further. Shares are expected occurrences: a fossil dated to a span is counted partly in each period it straddles. More on what this infers.

Found in

15 formations

Bannockburn — 44.91°S, 169.86°EBannockburn — 44.89°S, 169.84°ELondon Clay — 51.39°N, 0.84°ELondon Clay — 51.85°N, 1.28°EHillgrove — 45.13°S, 170.97°ENanjemoy — 38.28°N, 77.37°WFur — 56.83°N, 8.75°EMessel — 49.93°N, 8.73°EVarswater — 32.98°S, 18.15°EKromdraai — 26.00°S, 27.75°ESheep Creek — 42.40°N, 103.80°WElmore — 50.80°N, 1.20°WGreen River — 41.83°N, 110.82°WMenat — 46.10°N, 2.90°EOkeechobee — 27.53°N, 80.47°WTielt — 51.01°N, 3.23°EEnsenada — 34.53°S, 58.47°W

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The named rock units Psittaciformes has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 240 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Found in the same rock

1,947 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 176 sites for Psittaciformes, and this reads all of them. The number is how many of those sites it was catalogued from too. The 24 sharing the most are listed.

This is not a list of everything alive at the time. It is only what has come out of the same ground as this animal and been written down.

Entered from

94 references

Each of the 287 occurrences read was entered from one of these publications, ordered by how many each accounts for. This is not a search for papers mentioning the name. 82 further references are not listed. Entries link to doi.org where the Paleobiology Database holds an identifier, and to its own record where it does not. Relayed as the Paleobiology Database holds them, not checked against what they resolve to.

Media and terms

Media content2

Picture of Psittaciformes

Credit
Charles J. Sharp
Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0
Commercial use
the licence allows it

3D model

Source
Sketchfab
Credit
irvinlin
Licence
CC Attribution
Commercial use
cannot be read from the licence given — check the record

Smithsonian Open Access was not reached for this taxon, so this list is what the others held rather than everything there is.

The description on this site

Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0

This is what the site found, which is not the same as what exists.

Keep going

What may have been alongside itPsittacimorphae through timeThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. (Wagler 1830)