Merton's parrot. Holotype (right tarsometatarsus), S.052016, Te Papa. Image Te PapaNew Zealand's New Parrots Four new kinds of fossil parrots have just been discovered in Otago. Te Papa's Alan Tennyson, Canterbury's Paul Scofield and ex- Kiwi Trevor Worthy report three of these birds were the size of parakeets, the other as big as a kea.

No complete skeletons were found - just odd bones. These fossils add to the long list of birds, fish, frogs, reptiles and mammals that fell to the bottom of a gigantic lake near St Bathans 16 to 19 million years ago. The palaeontologists named one of the parrots Nelepsittacus donmertoni to commemorate the late Don Merton in recognition of his contribution to the conservation of New Zealand birds, particularly the kakapo.