Lophopsittacus bensoni

Taxonomy

Assessment Information

Geographic Range

Habitat and Ecology

Threats

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Taxonomy [top]

Kingdom	Phylum	Class	Order	Family
ANIMALIA	CHORDATA	AVES	PSITTACIFORMES	PSITTACIDAE

Scientific Name:

Lophopsittacus bensoni

Species Authority:

Holyoak, 1973

Common Name/s:

English

–

Mauritius Grey Parrot

Assessment Information [top]

Red List Category & Criteria:

Extinct ver 3.1

Year Assessed:

2008

Assessor/s:

BirdLife International

Reviewer/s:

Bird, J., Butchart, S.

History:

2004	–	Extinct
2000	–	Extinct
1994	–	Extinct
1988	–	Extinct

Geographic Range [top]

Range Description:	Lophopsittacus bensoni was described from a lower mandible, palatine and tarsometatarsus found in caves near Port Louis, Mauritius², and was almost certainly the small grey parrot described by numerous early writers¹. In 1764, Cossigny noted that "the woods are full of parrots, either completely grey or completely green. One used to eat them a lot formerly, the grey especially"¹, but this was the last mention of the species, and presumably it subsequently declined rapidly to extinction. There are also a number of reports of small grey parrots from Réunion which probably refer to this or a closely related species¹.

Range Description:

Lophopsittacus bensoni was described from a lower mandible, palatine and tarsometatarsus found in caves near Port Louis, Mauritius², and was almost certainly the small grey parrot described by numerous early writers¹. In 1764, Cossigny noted that "the woods are full of parrots, either completely grey or completely green. One used to eat them a lot formerly, the grey especially"¹, but this was the last mention of the species, and presumably it subsequently declined rapidly to extinction. There are also a number of reports of small grey parrots from Réunion which probably refer to this or a closely related species¹.

Habitat and Ecology [top]

Habitat and Ecology:	It inhabited the forest.
Systems:	Terrestrial

Threats [top]

Major Threat(s):	It was widely eaten and is likely to have become extinct through overhunting.

Major Threat(s):

It was widely eaten and is likely to have become extinct through overhunting.

Citation:	BirdLife International 2008. Lophopsittacus bensoni. In: IUCN 2011. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2011.2. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 09 February 2012.
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