Scientists from the Australian Universities of Flinders and New South Wales discovered fossils of Heracles inexpectatus, the largest parrot of the planet, in the fossil-rich New Zealand region of Otago. The find is reported in the journal Biology Letters.

Researchers reconstructed the appearance of an ancient feathered giant from fossilized remains. They also found that the extinct bird belonged to the same genus as the cocoa owl parrots that still inhabit the forests of New Zealand.

One of the members of the discovery team, Associate Professor Trevor Worsi, notes that New Zealand is known as a habitat for extinct birds of enormous size: moa (close relatives of ostriches), aptornis, giant geese and eagles. However, so far it has not been possible to find evidence of the existence of equally large parrots - neither in New Zealand nor anywhere else on the planet.

The extinct bird was twice as large as an owl parrot and reached a meter in height with a weight of about seven kilograms. The Dodo, a Mauritian dodo related to modern pigeons, which became extinct at the end of the 17th century, had approximately the same dimensions.

The remains of Heracles inexpectatus were discovered during excavations in the layers, whose age is about 19 Ma. Reconstruction showed that his strong and strong beak was able to cope with almost any food. This led researchers to the idea that the bird named after Hercules could be a predator and even hunt other types of parrots.

  • Image of silhouettes of Heracles Inexpectatus, a man of medium height and common magpie.
  • © Professor Paul Scofield, Canterbury Museum

Professor Mike Archer from the University of New South Wells writes that the structure of the fossil of the parrot, as well as the relative rarity of its remains among other fossils, indicate that it could be the top of the food chain in the ancient ecosystem of the islands. He also supports the theory that the giant bird was a predator, noting that another large parrot still living in New Zealand - kea - can feed on carrion and even attack some animals, most often domestic sheep.

However, other researchers note that the habitat of the parrot - a dense subtropical forest with many species of laurels and palm trees - provided enough plant food to support the population of herbivorous species, as evidenced by the discovered remains of giant pigeons and aptornisis.