New Species Of Lovebird Discovered In The Cradle Of Humankind

An international team of paleontologists unearthed fossilized bones of a new species of lovebird from three caves in the South African UNESCO World Heritage site known as the Cradle of Humankind.

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Life reconstruction of a pair of Agapornis longipes, nov. sp., feeding on the ground in the Early Pleistocene of the Cradle of Humankind (Gauteng, South Africa) during the dry season (Artwork by Martina Cadin / doi:10.1016/j.geobios.2024.05.006).

If you love parrots, then you will be excited to learn that a new species of lovebird has been unearthed in the Cradle of Humankind ( ref). The Cradle of Humankind is a paleoanthropological site located about 50 km (31 miles) northwest of Johannesburg, in the Gauteng province of South Africa (Figure 1). This World Heritage Site is so named because it is home to the largest known concentration of human ancestral remains anywhere in the world. It occupies 47,000 hectares (180 square miles) and contains a complex system of limestone caves.

F I G U R E 1 : Map of the Cradle of Humankind in Gauteng, South Africa. The triangle indicates the position of Kromdraai, the star indicates the position of Cooper’s Cave, and the diamond indicates the position of Swartkrans. Main sites: 1, Bolt’s Farm; 2, Rising Star; 3, Sterkfontein; 4, Minnaars; 5, Drimolen; 6, Plovers Lake; 7, Motsetse; 8, Gladysvale; 9, Malapa; 10, Haasgat; 11, Gondolin. (doi:10.1016/j.geobios.2024.05.006)

Bird fossils are very fragile so they often are crushed into fragments that must be meticulously re-assembled for study or they are comprised of just one specimen, but remarkably, this new lovebird species is represented by 96 complete and sub-complete bones from Kromdraai, Cooper’s Cave and Swartkrans. These lovebird fossils included all its major wing…