27/02/2014
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Parrots lumped

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This captive Thick-billed Parrot at Queens Zoo, New York, USA, is now likely to be lumped with the rarer Maroon-fronted Parrot in its native Mexico. Photo: Futureman1199 (commons.wikimedia.org).
This captive Thick-billed Parrot at Queens Zoo, New York, USA, is now likely to be lumped with the rarer Maroon-fronted Parrot in its native Mexico. Photo: Futureman1199 (commons.wikimedia.org).


Maroon-fronted Parrot Rhynchopsitta terrisi is an endangered parrot endemic to pine and oak forests in north-eastern Mexico, and is currently treated as a separate species from the closely related Thick-billed Parrot R pachyrhyncha. Despite this, new molecular research now indicates that the two should be lumped as subspecies, with Thick-billed as nominate.

Reference
Urantowka, A D, Strzala, T, and Grabowski, K A. 2013. Complete mitochondrial genome of endangered Maroon-fronted Parrot (Rhynchopsitta terrisi) – conspecific relation of the species with Thick-billed Parrot (Rhynchopsitta pachyrhyncha). Mitochondrial DNA. http://informahealthcare.com/doi/abs/10.3109/19401736.2013.809440.