Psittacinae is a subfamily of Afrotropical or Old World

parrot Parrots, also known as psittacines (), are birds of the roughly 398 species in 92 genera comprising the order Psittaciformes (), found mostly in tropical and subtropical regions. The order is subdivided into three superfamilies: the Psittacoide ...

s, native to sub-Saharan Africa, which include twelve

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

and two extant genera. Among the species is the iconic

grey parrot The grey parrot (''Psittacus erithacus''), also known as the Congo grey parrot, Congo African grey parrot or African grey parrot, is an Old World parrot in the family Psittacidae. The Timneh parrot ''(Psittacus timneh)'' once was identified as ...

. The ''

Poicephalus The genus ''Poicephalus'' belongs to the subfamily Psittacinae of the true parrots (Psittacidae) and comprises ten species of parrots native to various regions of the Afrotropical realm, which encompasses Sub-Saharan Africa, ranging from Sene ...

'' are usually green birds with different colored heads; the larger ''

Psittacus ''Psittacus'' is a genus of African grey parrots in the subfamily Psittacinae. It contains the two species: the grey parrot (''Psittacus erithacus'') and the Timneh parrot (''Psittacus timneh''). For many years, the grey parrot and Timneh p ...

'' are light grey with red tails. African parrots (at least the grey parrot) have been known in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

since

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

times. The African parrots, unlike their Neotropical cousins, are

polyphyletic A polyphyletic group is an assemblage of organisms or other evolving elements that is of mixed evolutionary origin. The term is often applied to groups that share similar features known as homoplasies, which are explained as a result of conver ...

: ''

Agapornis Lovebird is the common name for the genus ''Agapornis'', a small group of parrots in the Old World parrot family Psittaculidae. Of the nine species in the genus, all are native to the African continent, with the grey-headed lovebird being nati ...

'' of Africa and Madagascar was found to be the sister group to '' Loriculus'' of Australasia and Indo-Malayasia and together they clustered with the Australasian ''

Loriinae Loriinae is a subfamily of psittacine birds, one of the five subfamilies that make up the family Psittaculidae. It consists of three tribes, the lories and lorikeets ( Loriini), the budgerigar ( Melopsittacini) and the fig parrots (Cyclopsittini ...

'', ''

Cyclopsittacini Fig parrots (Cyclopsittini) are a small tribe of Australasian parrots in the family Psittaculidae, made up of five species in two genera (''Cyclopsitta'' and ''Psittaculirostris''). Fig parrots are found on and around the island of New Guinea, wi ...

'' and '' Melopsittacus''. ''

'' and ''

'' from mainland Africa formed the sister group of the Neotropical ''

Arinae The neotropical parrots or New World parrots comprise about 150 species in 32 genera found throughout South and Central America, Mexico, the Caribbean islands and (formerly) the southern United States. Among them are some of the most familiar an ...

'' and '' Coracopsis'' from Madagascar and adjacent islands may be the closest relative of '' Psittrichas'' from New Guinea.

Taxonomy

This subfamily, together with its sister subfamily

of Neotropical parrots, constitutes the family

Psittacidae The family Psittacidae or holotropical parrots is one of three families of true parrots. It comprises the roughly 10 species of subfamily Psittacinae (the Old World or Afrotropical parrots) and 157 of subfamily Arinae (the New World or Neotropi ...

, one of three families of true parrots. Traditionally, the genus ''Coracopsis'' (

vasa parrot :''The name vasa parrot is also used for the greater vasa parrot.'' The vasa parrots (''Coracopsis'') are four species of parrot which are endemic to Madagascar and other islands in the western Indian Ocean. Some taxonomists formerly placed the ...

s) is included in this subfamily, but recent molecular studies show that they are within a different family. An extinct prehistoric

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispe ...

genus '' Bavaripsitta'' has been described.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1074819 Bird subfamilies Psittacidae * Taxa named by Constantine Samuel Rafinesque