The Arini tribe of the neotropical parrots is a monophyletic clade of macaws and parakeets (commonly called conures in aviculture) characterized by colorful plumage and long, tapering tails. They occur throughout Mexico, Central America, and South America, the Caribbean and the southern United States. One genus and several species are extinct; another genus is extinct in the wild. Two species are known only through subfossil remains. About a dozen hypothetical extinct species (see Extinct Caribbean macaws) have been described, native to the Caribbean area.[1][2] Among the Arini are some of the rarest birds in the world, such as Spix's macaw, which is extinct in the wild – fewer than 100 specimens survive in captivity. It also contains the largest flighted parrot in the world, the hyacinth macaw. Some species, such as the blue-and-yellow macaw and sun conure are popular pet parrots.

Arini
Blue-and-yellow macaw
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Psittaciformes
Family: Psittacidae
Subfamily: Arinae
Tribe: Arini
G. R. Gray, 1840
Genera

Cyanoliseus
Enicognathus
Rhynchopsitta
Pyrrhura
Anodorhynchus
Leptosittaca
Ognorhynchus
Diopsittaca
Guaruba
Cyanopsitta
Orthopsittaca
Ara
Primolius
Aratinga
Eupsittula
Psittacara
Thectocercus
Conuropsis

Molecular studies have dated the divergence of the Arini tribe from the ancestral neotropical parrots to late in the Paleogene period about 30–35 million years ago.

Taxonomy

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The Arini are one of three recognized clades in subfamily Arinae of neotropical parrots in the family Psittacidae of Afrotropical and neotropical parrots, one of three families of true parrots.

Image Genus Living Species
  Anodorhynchus Spix, 1824
  Cyanopsitta Bonaparte, 1854
  Ara Lacépède, 1799
  Orthopsittaca Ridgway, 1912
  Primolius Bonaparte, 1857
  Diopsittaca Ridgway, 1912
  Rhynchopsitta Bonaparte, 1854
  Ognorhynchus Bonaparte, 1857
  Guaruba Lesson, 1830
  Leptosittaca Berlepsch & Stolzmann, 1894
  ConuropsisSalvadori, 1891
  • Carolina parakeet, Conuropsis carolinensis (extinct)
  • Conuropsis fratercula (extinct, proposed genus Conuropsis contested, known from subfossil remains)
  Psittacara Vigors, 1825
  Aratinga Spix, 1824
  Eupsittula Bonaparte, 1853
  Thectocercus Vieillot, 1818
  Cyanoliseus Bonaparte, 1854
  Pyrrhura Bonaparte, 1856
  Enicognathus G.R. Gray, 1840

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Mystery Macaws of the West Indies".
  2. ^ Turvey, S. T. (2010). "A new historical record of macaws on Jamaica". Archives of Natural History. 37 (2): 348–351. doi:10.3366/anh.2010.0016.