What Are Some of the Ancestors of a Parrot?

Maniraptors

• Paleontologists believe that parrots have a Maniraptoran dinosaur lineage. Although many members of the Maniraptora clade appear divergent in form, certain skeletal structures tie them together. One similarity is the semilunate carpal bone, which was originally a grasping structure modified to become a flight-adapted appendage. Other standard Maniraptor features observable in parrots include the collar bone or furcula, breast bone, downward-pointing pelvic pubis, non-proximal stubbed tail, elongated arms (wings) and arm appendages. Like the reptilian dinosaur, the parrot also lays eggs and has scales on its feet. It is also able to regulate body temperature by generating heat from within.

Dromaeosaurs

• Belonging to the therapod family of dinosaurs, the dromaeosaurs may be the ancestors of many modern birds, including parrots, based on their close resemblance. Their forelimbs had been modified from grasping to flight purposes. The second phalanx of their toes possessed sharp talon outgrowths and they had reinforced tails for balancing. They also had clawed hands for grasping and their muscular mandibles allowed them to pierce through food, like a modern bird's beak.

Coelurosaurs

• These dinosaurs possessed many bird-like characteristics, leading scientists to conclude that parrots descended from them. Commonalities between the modern parrot and these extinct dinosaurs include long forelimbs and arms with grasping "hands," large eye orbits, semilunate carpal that made the wrist flexible, a curved neck and scrap like shoulder blades and a short, distal tail. The microscopic structure of the coelurosaur egg reveals observable similarities to that of birds. The coelurosaur's bones are light and hollow and it was also covered with feather-like skin protrusions.

Kakapo Parrot

• The kakapo of New Zealand belongs to a more ancient breed of parrots that has adapted to predator threats by losing its ability to fly despite possessing well-developed flight appendages. Somewhere down its convergent evolution, it eluded capture by staying motionless in undergrowth, thereby hindering its ability to fly. To get away from beasts of prey, it does gliding leaps instead. Arduously going up trees using its beaks and claws, the kakapo also adapted to prey life by actively foraging for food at night and sleeping during the day to avoid hunters.