Two new parrot species ( P sittaciformes) from the early P liocene of L angebaanweg, S outh A frica, and their palaeoecological implications

Two new parrot species ( P sittaciformes) are described from the early Pliocene Varswater Formation at L angebaanweg, S outh A frica, an area where no parrots currently are found. A coracoid, humeri, ulnae, carpometacarpi, tibiotarsi and tarsometatarsi of at least four individuals are assigned to a new species of lovebird A gapornis . Additional tarsometatarsi of at least five individuals including a nestling are referred to a new genus and species of P sittacinae, a taxon endemic to A frica comprising the extant genera P oicephalus and P sittacus . Both species form the as yet earliest geological record of parrots in A frica and document the early diversification of the taxa A gapornis and P sittacinae. Evidence for parrots in general, and a putative graminivorous species of lovebird in particular, indicates that woodlands as well as grasslands were present at L angebaanweg during the early P liocene, which is consistent with current hypotheses on the palaeoenvironment at and around this site.