Heracles inexpectatus
| Heracles inexpectatus | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Temporal occurrence | ||||||||
| early Miocene | ||||||||
| 19 to 16 million years | ||||||||
| Locations | ||||||||
| Systematics | ||||||||
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| Scientific name of the genus | ||||||||
| Heracles | ||||||||
| Worthy , Hand, Archer , Scofield & De Pietri, 2019 | ||||||||
| Scientific name of the species | ||||||||
| Heracles inexpectatus | ||||||||
| Worthy, Hand, Archer, Scofield & De Pietri, 2019 | ||||||||
Heracles inexpectatus is an extinct, exceptionally large parrot whose fossil remains were found in layers of the early Miocene on the South Island of New Zealand on the Manuherikia River near the former mining town of Saint Bathans in the Otago region.
etymology
The name of the genus refers to the Greek legendary hero Heracles . He was chosen based on a legend in which Heracles killed Neleus and his sons. The smaller fossil parrot genus Nelepsittacus , which is related to the current genus of the Nestor parrots, is named after Neleus . Nestor is the only surviving son of Neleus in mythology.
The specific epithet inexpectatus ( Latin for unexpected ) indicates that such a find was not expected.
description
From Heracles inexpectatus only an almost complete left tibiotarsus , which, however, has no ends, is known as a holotype , and as a paratype a somewhat shorter, matching right tibiotarsus is known. These large and powerfully built bones were first mistaken for the remains of a bird of prey. On closer examination, however, several autapomorphies were found that allow the assignment to a parrot: The sulcus extensorius, a groove serving as a muscle attachment, is located near the center of the tibiotarsus; this widens asymmetrically towards the distal (distant from the body) end and is clearly flattened craniocaudally (i.e. in the head-to-tail direction); a bone bar at the lower end of the joint (pons supratendineus) is formed, horizontally aligned and reduced, and large, clear attachment scars for the transverse ligament are present, the distolateral scar being closer to the body than the pons. While these features allow an assignment to the parrots (Psittaciformes), a more precise systematic classification is not possible, a relationship with the New Zealand Strigopidae is likely, with a greater similarity to the Kakapo than to the Nestor parrots ( Nestor ).
The total length of the lower leg of the holotype is 161 mm, with a minimum circumference of 35.8 mm, with the bone having proportions similar to the tibiotarsus of the heaviest known living parrot, the flightless kakapo . A comparison with other bird species suggests that Heracles inexpectatus weighs around 7 kg and is around one meter tall. This is about double what Kakapos achieve, which is why Heracles inexpectatus is also believed to have a soil-based way of life.
habitat
The tibiotarsi of Heracles inexpectatus are the largest fossil remains found so far for the Saint Bathans fauna, where fossils over 10 cm are extremely rare. However, remains of other large birds typical of New Zealand's fauna have been found here, including moas , aptornis , an eagle and large ducks . In addition, there were several smaller parrots of the genus Nelepsittacus and a parrot the size of the kea ( Nestor notabilis ). When Heracles inexpectatus is the first known giant-parrot. In interviews, the descriptors of the species suspected that it was unable to fly and that it mainly fed on fruits and seeds, but could also have used small animals or carrion as food due to its size and strength, similar to what is known from Keas.
swell
- Trevor H. Worthy , Suzanne J. Hand, Michael Archer, R. Paul Scofield, Vanesa L. De Pietri: Evidence for a giant parrot from the Early Miocene of New Zealand . In: Biology Letters . tape 15 , 2019, doi : 10.1098 / rsbl.2019.0467 ( full text - pdf, English).
- Meet 'Hercules', a parrot of child-size proportions ( Flinders University press release )
Web links
- New Zealand. Researchers discover giant parrot fossils on August 7, 2019 at Spiegel Online