Agapornis longipes
| Agapornis longipes | |
|---|---|
| |
| Life restoration of A. longipes | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Psittaciformes |
| Family: | Psittaculidae |
| Genus: | Agapornis |
| Species: | A. longipes
|
| Binomial name | |
| Agapornis longipes Pavia et. al, 2024
| |
Agapornis longipes is an extinct species of lovebird that lived in the Cradle of Humankind about 2.5 million years ago.
Discovery and naming
[edit]Bones of Agapornis longipes were uncovered in three caves (Kromdraai, Cooper's Cave, and Swartkrans)[1] in the Cradle of Humankind, a World Heritage Site about 50 km (31 mi) northwest of Johannesburg, South Africa, between 1979 and 1986 by paleontologist Bob Brain. The species was described in 2024 and given the specific name longipes, meaning "long-footed" in Latin.[2] Birds have fragile bones, so fossils of small birds such as Agapornis are typically found in small fragments, but A. longipes was unusually represented by 96 bones, some entirely complete and others incomplete.[3]
Description
[edit]Agapornis longipes was a small species of parrot with relatively large legs compared to other lovebirds. The ratio of humerus to tarsometatarsus length was the smallest of all known Agapornis taxa, indicating long legs. The long legs suggest that the species fed primarily on the ground rather than in trees, feeding on grass seeds in the dense foliage of the South African grasslands.[2] It had proportionally shorter wings than other lovebirds, adapted to its ground-dwelling lifestyle.[4]
Paleoenvironment
[edit]
The environment that Agapornis longipes inhabited was similar to the grasslands of modern South Africa. Living in the Cradle of Humankind, the species lived alongside the hominids Paranthropus and Homo. Because the environment of A. longipes has not changed significantly, it is likely that the bird was driven to extinction by microclimatic changes or the extinction of a food source rather than a change in the general environment.[2]
References
[edit]- ^ Anderson, Natali (2024-08-19). "Prehistoric Lovebirds Lived in Cradle of Humankind 2.5 Million Years Ago". Sci.News: Breaking Science News. Retrieved 2025-01-04.
- ^ a b c Pavia, Marco; Braga, José; Delfino, Massimo; Kgasi, Lazarus; Manegold, Albrecht; Steininger, Christine; Zipfel, Bernhard; Val, Aurore (2024-08-09). "A new species of Lovebird (Aves, Psittaculidae, Agapornis) from the Plio-Pleistocene of the Cradle of Humankind (Gauteng, South Africa)". Geobios. doi:10.1016/j.geobios.2024.05.006. ISSN 0016-6995.
- ^ "New Species Of Lovebird Discovered In The Cradle Of Humankind". Forbes. Archived from the original on 2025-01-04. Retrieved 2025-01-04.
- ^ "Tall Grass, Long Legs – A New Lovebird Species From the Cradle of Humankind". Genus. Retrieved 2025-01-04.