Largest species of parrot found in New Zealand through fossils

（Photo/Chinanews.com）

WELLINGTON, Aug. 9  -- Scientists have recently found the largest parrot species by re-analyzing fossils excavated in New Zealand a decade ago.

With an estimated weight of 7 kg, the parrot was more than twice as heavy as the Kakapo, previously the largest known parrot, according to a paper published in the journal Biology Letters on Wednesday.

The newly-found bird, which roamed New Zealand about 19 million years ago, also stood about three feet tall so that it was "able to pick the belly button lint out of your belly button," co-author Micheal Archer from the University of New South Wales told the Natioanl Geographic.

Paleontologists named the new species Heracles inexpectatus recognizing its unusual size and the unexpected nature of their finding.

In 2008, when two fossilized bird legs were unearthed near St Bathans in Central Otago, New Zealand, people first thought the bones belonged to a giant eagle and then kept them in storage for 11 years.

"Because no giant parrots have been found previously, parrots were not on our radar," said Trevor Worthy, lead author and paleontologist of Flinders University.

It was during a research project in Worthy's lab that one of his students accidentally rediscovered the bones earlier this year.

Researchers compared the leg bones to other bird skeletons until a suit of characters unique to large and flightless parrots became evident.

They inferred New Zealand once had a highly diverse subtropical flora that contributed to the evolvement of abnormally large parrots.

However, with limited fossils at hand, the current study hasn't assigned the bird to any family.