Tiger-Parrots Show Their True Evolutionary Stripes

Image by Marcel Holyoak - Brehm's Tiger-parrot (Psittacella brehmii) male Recently released genetic research from CSIRO and New Mexico State University in the US is helping scientists better understand how Australian birds evolved. The researchers found that the tiger-parrots of New Guinea's rainforests -- named for their striped or barred plumage -- are not, as has been widely accepted, closely related either to a group of rosella-like parrots found in Australia and Oceania, nor a similar group found in Asia and Africa.

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