The trace of a giant parrot approaching 1m?

Evidence of the existence of giant parrots has been found in New Zealand. According to a new survey, it is possible that a parrot, weighing 7 kg and reaching 90 cm tall, once lived. According to a research team at Flinders University in Australia, there is no choice but to speculate compared to the modern species, but parrots are smart and have the ability to solve problems. Most of them are herbivorous, and in the case of one species, it seems that they were eating many fruits and seeds in the forest.

In 2008, a fossil that appears to be a pair of shins was discovered. The human leg has only two bones, but there are three birds with another pair, shin bones in the middle. Scientists at the time thought it was an eagle bone, according to a paper published in the British Journal of Biology (BIOLOGY LETTERS). However, it is said that the shape and proportions looked like a parrot. The problem is that it is too huge than a parrot bone. It was concluded that these birds were twice as large as the Kakapo, the heaviest parrot in existence.

Given these unexpected discoveries and the size of the giant bird, it was named Heracles inexpectatus. Previously, a group of extinct parrots was borrowed from Nereus, a Greek mythical hero, and built it as Nelepsittacus. Nelevsitacus is closely related to Nereus’ son Nestor. In addition, Heraclas killed all of Nereus’ sons besides Nestor.

This fossil was found in the South Island of New Zealand. Although large bones have rarely been found here, extinct ostrich species or giant eagles and fossils have been found. All of these bones were found in rocks from 16 million to 19 million years ago.

From the outside, scholars say the bone contains all six traits that only parrots have. Of course, there are limitations. Indeed, it is difficult to judge not only the shin bones, but also where to place them in the parrot family tree. However, the study suggests that large islands devoid of mammalian predators could produce strange wildlife, including giant birds. Related information can be found here .