Psephotellus

Psephotellus is a genus of medium sized Australian parrots. Four species found across the country are recognised, one is presumed to have become extinct.

Psephotellus
Mulga parrot
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Psittaciformes
Family:	Psittaculidae
Tribe:	Platycercini
Genus:	Psephotellus Mathews, 1913
Type species
Platycercus pulcherrimus[1] Gould, 1845
Species
Four; see text

Description

All species show considerable sexual dimorphism. These species have traditionally been placed in the genus Psephotus along with the red-rumped parrot, but a molecular study analysing nuclear and mitochondrial DNA found that the red-rumped parrot was an early offshoot in a clade of several genera of broad-tailed parrot, with the other species nested deeply within.^[2][3]

Taxonomy

The genus was first proposed by Gregory Mathews in 1913, nominating the paradise parrot Platycercus pulcherrimus Gould as the type and forming a new combination as Psephotellus pulcherrimus.^[4]

Diversity and distribution

Genus Psephotellus – Mathews, 1913 – four species

Common name	Scientific name and subspecies	Range	Size and ecology	IUCN status and estimated population
mulga parrot	Psephotellus varius (Clark, AH, 1910)	Western New South Wales from Collarenabri, West Wyalong and Griffith westwards through the northwestern tip of Victoria and across South Australia to central Western Australia.	Size: Habitat: Diet:	LC
hooded parrot	Psephotellus dissimilis (Collett, 1898)	northeast Northern Territory	Size: Habitat: Diet:	LC
golden-shouldered parrot	Psephotellus chrysopterygius (Gould, 1858)	Queensland and New South Wales	Size: Habitat: Diet:	EN
paradise parrot	Psephotellus pulcherrimus (Gould, 1845)	formerly recorded in eastern Qld and northeastern NSW, no confirmed record since 1927.[5]	Size: Habitat: Diet:	EX

References

1. "Psittaculidae". aviansystematics.org. The Trust for Avian Systematics. Retrieved 2023-07-24.
2. Leo Joseph; Alicia Toon; Erin E. Schirtzinger; Timothy F. Wright (2011). "Molecular systematics of two enigmatic genera Psittacella and Pezoporus illuminate the ecological radiation of Australo-Papuan parrots (Aves: Psittaciformes)". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 59 (3): 675–684. Bibcode:2011MolPE..59..675J. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2011.03.017. PMID 21453777.
3. Schweizer, Manuel; Güntert, Marcel; Hertwig, Stefan T. (2012). "Out of the Bassian province: historical biogeography of the Australasian platycercine parrots". Zoologica Scripta. 42 (1): 13–27. doi:10.1111/j.1463-6409.2012.00561.x. S2CID 53957317.
4. Mathews, G. (1913). "New generic names, with some notes on others". Austral Avian Record; A Scientific Journal Devoted Primarily to the Study of the Australian Avifauna. 2: 57.
5. Blakers, M.; Davies, S.J.J.F.; Reilly, P.N. (1984). Royal Australasian Ornithologists Union (ed.). The Atlas of Australian Birds (1st ed.). Carlton, Vic.: Melbourne University Press. ISBN 978-0-522-84285-2.