''Brotogeris'' is a genus of small

parrot Parrots (Psittaciformes), also known as psittacines (), are birds with a strong curved beak, upright stance, and clawed feet. They are classified in four families that contain roughly 410 species in 101 genus (biology), genera, found mostly in ...

s endemic to Central and South America. Their closest relatives are the monk parakeet and the cliff parakeet in the genus '' Myiopsitta''. They eat seeds and fruit. The word ''brotogeris'' means "having the voice of a human". In the language of their native countries, which is mostly Spanish, they are called ''pericos'' – the translation of which is "parakeet". Their average lifespan is 15 years, although some have been reported to have lived up to 35 years. Also, the bird was found in Rio Grande do Sul in South America.

Taxonomy

The genus ''Brotogeris'' was introduced in 1825 by Irish zoologist Nicholas Aylward Vigors with the grey-cheeked parakeet as the

type species In International_Code_of_Zoological_Nomenclature, zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the spe ...

. The name is from the

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...

''brotogērus'' meaning "with human voice". The genus contains eight species:

Phylogeny

The species form a

monophyletic In biological cladistics for the classification of organisms, monophyly is the condition of a taxonomic grouping being a clade – that is, a grouping of organisms which meets these criteria: # the grouping contains its own most recent co ...

group whose closest relatives are the monk parakeet and the cliff parakeet in the genus '' Myiopsitta''. Within ''Brotogeris'' the species are divided into two separate

clade In biology, a clade (), also known as a Monophyly, monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that is composed of a common ancestor and all of its descendants. Clades are the fundamental unit of cladistics, a modern approach t ...

Gallery

File:Plain Parakeet (Brotogeris tirica) -on branch.jpg, Plain parakeet
(''B. tirica'') File:Grey-cheeked Parakeet (Brotogeris pyrrhoptera) captivity.jpg, Grey-cheeked parakeet
(''B. pyrrhoptera'') File:Brotogeris chiriri -pet-8a.jpg, Yellow-chevroned parakeet
(''B. chiriri'') File:Orange-chinned Parakeet (Brotogeris jugularis)10c1.jpg, Orange-chinned parakeet
(''B. jugularis'') File:Brotogeris cyanoptera -Ecudore-4.jpg, Cobalt-winged parakeet
(''B. cyanoptera'') File:Brotogeris sanctithomae -captive-8a.jpg, Tui parakeet
(''B. sanctithomae'')

Taxonomy

Phylogeny

Gallery

References

Further reading