A Budgerigar Melopsittacus undulatus from the Pliocene of Riversleigh, North-western Queensland

Abstract

Three carpometacarpi and a tarsometatarsus of a small parrot, recovered from the Early Pliocene-aged deposits at Rackham’s Roost Site, Riversleigh, north-western Queensland, are indistinguishable from those of the living Budgerigar Melopsittacus undulatus, and are referred to this species. The presence of this species suggests that the palaeoenvironment at Riversleigh during the Pliocene was open woodland, similar to the habitat occurring there today.