Mopsitta
Extinct genus of birds
title: "Mopsitta" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["prehistoric-birds-of-europe", "eocene-birds", "monotypic-prehistoric-bird-genera", "fur-formation"] description: "Extinct genus of birds" topic_path: "general/prehistoric-birds-of-europe" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mopsitta" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary Extinct genus of birds ::
| name = Mopsitta | fossil_range = Lower Eocene | parent_authority = Waterhouse et al. 2008 | genus = Mopsitta | species = tanta | authority = Waterhouse et al. 2008
Mopsitta tanta is an extinct bird of uncertain taxonomic position from the Early Eocene of Denmark; its remains were recovered from the Fur Formation. So far, the holotype and only known specimen is a single humerus bone of rather large size. Although the phylogenetic position of genus is unclear, it was initially presumed to be phylogenetically closer to Recent Psittacidae than to other known Palaeogene psittaciforms and may, therefore, represent the oldest known crown-group parrot.
However, further examination subsequently pointed out that the fossil lacks clear psittaciform (let alone psittacid) apomorphies. Following the discovery that the fossil ibis genus Rhynchaeites also occurred in the Fur Formation, it was hypothesized that the M. tanta humerus actually belongs in that genus, being a better match (except in size) to the known Rhynchaeites remains than to any psittaciform fossil hitherto found.
The species has been nicknamed the "Danish Blue Parrot", or the "Norwegian Blue", in honor of the Dead Parrot sketch from Monty Python's Flying Circus.
References
References
- (2008). "Two new parrots (Psittaciformes) from the Lower Eocene Fur Formation of Denmark". Palaeontology.
- Mayr G. & Bertelli S. (2011), [https://doi.org/10.1007%2Fs12549-011-0050-8 "A record of Rhynchaeites (Aves, Threskiornithidae) from the early Eocene Fur Formation of Denmark, and the affinities of the alleged parrot ''Mopsitta''"], ''Palaeobiodiversity and Palaeoenvironments'' '''91'''(3): p. 229–236.
- "Parrot Fossil 55 Million Years Old Discovered In Scandinavia".
- (2012-04-12). "Norwegian Blue parrot really DID exist - but now they are all 'stiff, bereft of life and ex-parrots'".
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