Order Psittaciformes Scientific name Psittacinae Rank Subfamily | Phylum Chordata Superfamily Psittacoidea Higher classification Parrots | |
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Mass African grey parrot: 410 g Length African grey parrot: 33 cm Lower classifications African grey parrot, Psittacus | ||
Psittacinae is a subfamily of Afrotropical or Old World parrots; the eleven species are found in two genera. Among the species is the iconic African grey parrot. These parrots are native to sub-Saharan Africa, the island of Madagascar, and the Arabian Peninsula.
The Poicephalus are usually green birds with different colored heads; the larger Psittacus are light grey with red tails.
African parrots (at least the African grey parrot) have been known in Europe since Roman times.
The African parrots, unlike their Neotropical cousins, are polyphyletic: Agapornis of Africa and Madagascar was found to be the sister group to Loriculus of Australasia and Indo-Malayasia and together they clustered with the Australasian Loriinae, Cyclopsittacini and Melopsittacus. Poicephalus and Psittacus from mainland Africa formed the sister group of the Neotropical Arinae and Coracopsis from Madagascar and adjacent islands may be the closest relative of Psittrichas from New Guinea.
Taxonomy
This subfamily, together with its sister subfamily Arinae of Neotropical parrots, constitutes the family Psittacidae, one of three families of true parrots.
Genus Psittacus
Genus Poicephalus
Traditionally, the Coracopsis genus (vasa parrots) is included in this subfamily, but recent molecular studies show that they are within a different family.
An extinct prehistoric monotypic genus Bavaripsitta has been described.