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New Zealand parrot
The New Zealand parrot family, Strigopidae, consists of at least three genera of parrots – Nestor, Strigops, the fossil Nelepsittacus, and probably the fossil Heracles. The genus Nestor consists of the kea, kākā, Norfolk kākā and Chatham kākā, while the genus Strigops contains the kākāpō. All extant species are endemic to New Zealand. The species of the genus Nelepsittacus were endemics of the main islands, while the two extinct species of the genus Nestor were found at the nearby oceanic islands such as Chatham Island of New Zealand, and Norfolk Island and adjacent Phillip Island.
The Norfolk kākā and the Chatham kākā have become extinct in recent times, while the species of the genus Nelepsittacus have been extinct for 16 million years. All extant species, the kākāpō, kea, and the two subspecies of the kākā, are threatened. Human activity caused the two extinctions and the decline of the other three species. Settlers introduced invasive species, such as pigs, cats, foxes, weasels, rats and possums, which eat the eggs of ground-nesting birds, and additional declines have been caused by hunting for food, killing as agricultural pests, habitat loss, and introduced wasps.
The family diverged from the other parrots around 82 million years ago when New Zealand broke off from Gondwana, while the ancestors of the genera Nestor and Strigops diverged from each other between 60 and 80 million years ago.
No consensus existed regarding the taxonomy of Psittaciformes until recently. The placement of the Strigopoidea species has been variable in the past. The family belongs to its own superfamily Strigopoidea. This superfamily is one of three superfamilies in the order Psittaciformes; the other two families are Cacatuoidea (cockatoos) and Psittacoidea (true parrots). While some taxonomists include three genera (Nestor, Nelepsittacus, and Strigops) in the family Strigopidae, others place Nestor and Nelepsittacus in the Nestoridae and retain only Strigops in the Strigopidae. Traditionally, the species of the family Strigopoidea were placed in the superfamily Psittacoidea, but several studies confirmed the unique placement of this group at the base of the parrot tree.
An unproven hypothesis for the phylogeography of this group has been proposed, providing an example of various speciation mechanisms at work. In this scenario, ancestors of this group became isolated from the remaining parrots when New Zealand broke away from Gondwana about 82 million years ago, resulting in a physical separation of the two groups. This mechanism is called allopatric speciation. Over time, ancestors of the two surviving genera, Nestor and Strigops, adapted to different ecological niches. This led to reproductive isolation, an example of ecological speciation. In the Pliocene, supposedly around five million years ago, the formation of the Southern Alps / Kā Tiritiri o te Moana diversified the landscape and provided new opportunities for speciation within the genus Nestor. Around three million years ago, two lineages may have adapted to high altitude and low altitude, respectively. The high-altitude lineage gave rise to the modern kea, while the low-altitude lineage gave rise to the various kākā species. Island species diverge rapidly from mainland species once a few vagrants arrive at a suitable island. Both the Norfolk kākā and the Chatham kākā are the result of migration of a limited number of individuals to islands and subsequent adaptation to the habitat of those islands. The lack of DNA material for the Chatham kākā makes it difficult to establish precisely when those speciation events occurred. Finally, in recent times, the kākā populations at the North Island and South Island became isolated from each other due to the rise in sea levels when the continental glaciers melted at the end of the Pleistocene.
Until modern times, New Zealand and the surrounding islands were not inhabited by four-legged mammals, an environment that enabled some birds to make nests on the ground and others to be flightless without fear of predation.
The parakeet species belonging to the genus Cyanoramphus (kākāriki) belong to the true parrot family Psittacidae and are closely related to the endemic genus Eunymphicus from New Caledonia. They may have reached New Zealand between 450,000 and 625,000 years ago from mainland Australia by way of New Caledonia, but this is disputed.
Very little is known about the Chatham kākā. The genus Nelepsittacus consists of three described and one undescribed species recovered from early Miocene deposits in Otago. The genus Heracles consists of a giant species also described from the early Miocene of Otago.
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New Zealand parrot
The New Zealand parrot family, Strigopidae, consists of at least three genera of parrots – Nestor, Strigops, the fossil Nelepsittacus, and probably the fossil Heracles. The genus Nestor consists of the kea, kākā, Norfolk kākā and Chatham kākā, while the genus Strigops contains the kākāpō. All extant species are endemic to New Zealand. The species of the genus Nelepsittacus were endemics of the main islands, while the two extinct species of the genus Nestor were found at the nearby oceanic islands such as Chatham Island of New Zealand, and Norfolk Island and adjacent Phillip Island.
The Norfolk kākā and the Chatham kākā have become extinct in recent times, while the species of the genus Nelepsittacus have been extinct for 16 million years. All extant species, the kākāpō, kea, and the two subspecies of the kākā, are threatened. Human activity caused the two extinctions and the decline of the other three species. Settlers introduced invasive species, such as pigs, cats, foxes, weasels, rats and possums, which eat the eggs of ground-nesting birds, and additional declines have been caused by hunting for food, killing as agricultural pests, habitat loss, and introduced wasps.
The family diverged from the other parrots around 82 million years ago when New Zealand broke off from Gondwana, while the ancestors of the genera Nestor and Strigops diverged from each other between 60 and 80 million years ago.
No consensus existed regarding the taxonomy of Psittaciformes until recently. The placement of the Strigopoidea species has been variable in the past. The family belongs to its own superfamily Strigopoidea. This superfamily is one of three superfamilies in the order Psittaciformes; the other two families are Cacatuoidea (cockatoos) and Psittacoidea (true parrots). While some taxonomists include three genera (Nestor, Nelepsittacus, and Strigops) in the family Strigopidae, others place Nestor and Nelepsittacus in the Nestoridae and retain only Strigops in the Strigopidae. Traditionally, the species of the family Strigopoidea were placed in the superfamily Psittacoidea, but several studies confirmed the unique placement of this group at the base of the parrot tree.
An unproven hypothesis for the phylogeography of this group has been proposed, providing an example of various speciation mechanisms at work. In this scenario, ancestors of this group became isolated from the remaining parrots when New Zealand broke away from Gondwana about 82 million years ago, resulting in a physical separation of the two groups. This mechanism is called allopatric speciation. Over time, ancestors of the two surviving genera, Nestor and Strigops, adapted to different ecological niches. This led to reproductive isolation, an example of ecological speciation. In the Pliocene, supposedly around five million years ago, the formation of the Southern Alps / Kā Tiritiri o te Moana diversified the landscape and provided new opportunities for speciation within the genus Nestor. Around three million years ago, two lineages may have adapted to high altitude and low altitude, respectively. The high-altitude lineage gave rise to the modern kea, while the low-altitude lineage gave rise to the various kākā species. Island species diverge rapidly from mainland species once a few vagrants arrive at a suitable island. Both the Norfolk kākā and the Chatham kākā are the result of migration of a limited number of individuals to islands and subsequent adaptation to the habitat of those islands. The lack of DNA material for the Chatham kākā makes it difficult to establish precisely when those speciation events occurred. Finally, in recent times, the kākā populations at the North Island and South Island became isolated from each other due to the rise in sea levels when the continental glaciers melted at the end of the Pleistocene.
Until modern times, New Zealand and the surrounding islands were not inhabited by four-legged mammals, an environment that enabled some birds to make nests on the ground and others to be flightless without fear of predation.
The parakeet species belonging to the genus Cyanoramphus (kākāriki) belong to the true parrot family Psittacidae and are closely related to the endemic genus Eunymphicus from New Caledonia. They may have reached New Zealand between 450,000 and 625,000 years ago from mainland Australia by way of New Caledonia, but this is disputed.
Very little is known about the Chatham kākā. The genus Nelepsittacus consists of three described and one undescribed species recovered from early Miocene deposits in Otago. The genus Heracles consists of a giant species also described from the early Miocene of Otago.