Necropsittacus Milne-Edwards, 1874: 18

HUME, JULIAN PENDER, 2007, Reappraisal of the parrots (Aves: Psittacidae) from the Mascarene Islands, with comments on their ecology, morphology, and affinities, Zootaxa 1513 (1), pp. 1-76 : 31

Genus Necropsittacus Milne-Edwards, 1874: 18 .

Necropsittacus ; Milne-Edwards, 1874 [1873]: 18, pl.15, fig. a–b. Type by original designation: Psittacus Rodricanus A. Milne-Edwards.

Etymology: From Greek necros, meaning dead, and psittakos parrot, in reference to this species being extinct.

Diagnosis: A monotypic genus of large, big-headed parrot with a long tail and lacking the distinctive crest of Lophopsittacus . The genus is distinguished from all other Mascarene parrots by the following suite of characters. Cranium: dorsoventrally flattened with lateral edge of the craniorostral hinge sharply right-angled; processus postorbitalis short; crista nuchalis transversus forms a prominent ridged semi-circle; parietals gently slope toward occipital region, which is steeply angled and has a deeply excavated fossa temporalis. Rostrum: narial openings oriented on a different plane, i.e. upward as opposed to forward. Mandible: when viewed in dorsal aspect, the internal margin of symphysis broad and square-shaped. Coracoid: processus procoracoideus reduced with a shallow cotyla scapularis; distal to the angulus medialis, a raised ridge forms a small square-shaped lateral edge; proximal to the facies articularis clavicularis, a deeply excavated, pneumaticised circular pit present. Femur: comparatively indistinct impressiones obturatoriae with a shallow excavation distal to the trochanter; sulcus patellaris narrow and deeply excavated; fovea ligamenti capitis forms a shallow rounded depression; sulcus distal to fossa poplitea deeply excavated. Tibiotarsus: reduced pons supratendineus with no enclosing of the canalis extensorius. Tarsometatarsus: reduced fossa metatarsi I.