''Psittacomimus'' (meaning "'' Psittacus'' imitator") is an extinct genus of psittacopedid bird from the

Early Eocene In the geologic timescale the Ypresian is the oldest age or lowest stratigraphic stage of the Eocene. It spans the time between , is preceded by the Thanetian Age (part of the Paleocene) and is followed by the Eocene Lutetian Age. The Ypresian i ...

London Clay Formation The London Clay Formation is a marine geological formation of Ypresian (early Eocene Epoch, c. 56–49 million years ago) age which crops out in the southeast of England. The London Clay is well known for its fossil content. The fossils from th ...

of Essex, United Kingdom. The genus contains a single species, ''P. eos'', known from a partial skeleton.

Discovery and naming

The holotype specimen, NMS.Z.2021.40.38, was discovered in 1991 by Michael Daniels in layers of the

(Walton Member), dated to the early Ypresian, which is located near Walton-on-the-Naze in Essex, England. This specimen consists of the skull, the left

quadrate Quadrate may refer to: * Quadrate bone * Quadrate (heraldry) * Quadrate lobe of liver * Quadrate tubercle The quadrate tubercle is a small tubercle found upon the upper part of the femur. It serves as a point of insertion of the quadratus femori ...

, several vertebrae, the left coracoid, a partial left and right

humerus The humerus (; ) is a long bone in the arm that runs from the shoulder to the elbow. It connects the scapula and the two bones of the lower arm, the radius and ulna, and consists of three sections. The humeral upper extremity consists of a roun ...

, a partial left ulna, a right radius, a right and partial left carpometacarpus, the pelvis, a partial right femur, a right tibiotarsus, a partial left and right

tarsometatarsus The tarsometatarsus is a bone that is only found in the lower leg of birds and some non-avian dinosaurs. It is formed from the fusion of several bones found in other types of animals, and homologous to the mammalian tarsus (ankle bones) and meta ...

, and pedal

phalanges The phalanges (singular: ''phalanx'' ) are digital bones in the hands and feet of most vertebrates. In primates, the thumbs and big toes have two phalanges while the other digits have three phalanges. The phalanges are classed as long bones. ...

. The fossil material, particularly the nearly-complete skull, closely resembles bones of the contemporary related '' Parapsittacopes''. A preliminary description of the fossil material was published by German paleontologist Gerald Mayr and Michael Daniels in 1998. In 2022, Gerald Mayr and British zoologist Andrew C. Kitchener described ''Psittacomimus eos'', a new genus and species of psittacopedid, based on these fossil remains. The generic name, "''Psittacomimus''", combines the Greek word "μῖμος" ("mimos"), meaning "imitator", with the name of the extant parrot '' Psittacus'', in reference to the similarity of ''Psittacomimus'' with

psittaciform 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 Psittacoid ...

s. The

specific name Specific name may refer to: * in Database management systems, a system-assigned name that is unique within a particular database In taxonomy, either of these two meanings, each with its own set of rules: * Specific name (botany), the two-part (bino ...

, "''eos''", references the discovery of the fossils in Eocene-aged sediments. Additional bones discovered at the same locality were also assigned to ''Psittacomimus'' as referred specimens.

Classification

Mayr and Kitchener (2022) recovered ''Psittacomimus'' within the Psittacopedidae in their phylogenetic analyses. Their results are shown in the cladogram below:

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q115943481 Eocene birds of Europe Extinct birds of Europe Prehistoric bird genera Fossil taxa described in 2022 Birds described in 2022

Discovery and naming

Classification

See also

References