Episode 635
Mascarene grey parakeet
Wed, 2019-Jan-30 00:18 UTC
Length - 2:26
Direct Link
Welcome to featured Wiki of the Day where we read the summary of the featured Wikipedia article every day.
The featured article for Wednesday, 30 January 2019 is Mascarene grey parakeet.
The Mascarene grey parakeet or Thirioux's grey parrot (Psittacula bensoni), is an extinct species of parrot which was endemic to the Mascarene islands of Mauritius and Réunion in the western Indian Ocean. It has been classified as a member of the tribe Psittaculini, along with other parrots from the islands.
Subfossil bones of the Mascarene grey parakeet found on Mauritius were first described in 1973 as belonging to a smaller relative of the broad-billed parrot in the genus Lophopsittacus. Apart from their size, the bones were very similar to those of other Mascarene parrots. The subfossils were later connected with 17th- and 18th-century descriptions of small grey parrots on Mauritius and Réunion, together with a single illustration published in a journal describing a voyage in 1602, and the species was instead reassigned to the genus Psittacula.
The Mascarene grey parakeet was grey, had a long tail, and was larger than other species of the genus Psittacula, which are usually green. The grey parrots were said to be easy to hunt, as the capture of one would result in its calling out to summon the whole flock. They were also considered to be crop pests, and being such easy prey meant that they were extensively hunted. Coupled with deforestation, this pushed them into extinction. This had happened by the 1730s on Réunion and by the 1760s on Mauritius.
This recording reflects the Wikipedia text as of 00:18 UTC on Wednesday, 30 January 2019.
For the full current version of the article, see Mascarene grey parakeet on Wikipedia.
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This has been Joey. Thank you for listening to featured Wiki of the Day.
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