Species Psephotellus pulcherrimus (Gould, 1845) (Extinct)

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• Platycercus pulcherrimus Gould, J. 1845. On a new species of Platycercus. Annals and Magazine of Natural History 1 15: 114-115 [For publication date Schodde, R. 1989. The story behind the description in Canberra Bird Notes of new subspecies of birds. Canberra Bird Notes 14: 90–91] [115] [from measurements, ANSP 22915 identified as holotype by Stone, W. in Stone, W. & Mathews, G.M. 1913. A list of the species of Australian birds described by John Gould, with the location of the type-specimens. Austral Avian Records 1: 129–180, and Meyer de Schauensee, R. 1957. On some avian types, principally Gould's, in the collection of the Academy. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia 109: 123–246, and type locality there ascribed (on incorrect evidence) to Kent's Lagoon, Darling Downs: neither designation can be confirmed, see Fisher, C.T. 1985. From John Gilbert to John Gould. Australian Zoologist 22(1): 5–14; in the protologue, Gould based the species on details sent to him by John Gilbert in his letter of 8 June 1844, which in turn were based on male 'specimens … killed' before that date: these probably comprise some or all of the six of that sex in ANSP and BMNH enumerated by Meyer de Schauensee, R. 1957. On some avian types, principally Gould's, in the collection of the Academy. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia 109: 123–246; in the circumstances, it seems advisable to treat all these males as part of the type series, pending elimination of any taken after 8 June 1844; included among them is ANSP 22915 which, through the designations of Stone, W. in Stone, W. & Mathews, G.M. 1913. A list of the species of Australian birds described by John Gould, with the location of the type-specimens. Austral Avian Records 1: 129–180 and Meyer de Schauensee, R. 1957. On some avian types, principally Gould's, in the collection of the Academy. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia 109: 123–246, is lectotypified under ICZN Art. 74; this determination nevertheless precludes Kent's Lagoon as type locality, for Gilbert only records visiting it on 20 Oct. 1844, on the Leichhardt expedition, see Chisholm, A.H. 1945. Birds of the Gilbert diary, Part 2. Emu 44: 183–200; Fisher, C.T. 1985. From John Gilbert to John Gould. Australian Zoologist 22(1): 5–14; the males illustrated on plate 34 in Gould, J. 1848. The Birds of Australia. London : J. Gould Vol. 5 92 pls pp. [Pt 8, 1842], are probably part of the type series and include ANSP 22915].

  Type data:

   Lectotype ANSP 22915 ♂ (Verreaux cat. no. 251), Condamine River, Darling Downs, QLD (as Darling Downs at the back of Moreton Bay).
  Paralectotype(s) LIVCM D789a ♂; ANSP 22912 ♂ (institution uncertain); ANSP 22914 ♂ (institution uncertain); ANSP ♂ ('Australia'; institution uncertain); BMNH ♂ (ex J. Gould coll.); BMNH ♂ (ex J. Gould coll.)
  Comment: for identification of type material and type locality, see Fisher, C.T. 1985. From John Gilbert to John Gould. Australian Zoologist 22(1): 5–14.

  Subsequent designation references:

  Stone, W. in Stone, W. & Mathews, G.M. 1913. A list of the species of Australian birds described by John Gould, with the location of the type-specimens. Austral Avian Records 1: 129-180 [Date published 28 Feb 1913].
• Psephotellus pulcherrimus dubius Mathews, G.M. 1915. Additions and corrections to my List of the Birds of Australia. Austral Avian Records 2: 123-133 [Date published 129] [128] [holotype inferred but not specified in original description; lectotype nominated, illustrated on pl. 313, and described in detail on pp. 421–422 in Mathews, G.M. 1917. The Birds of Australia. London : Witherby & Co. Vol. 6 pt 5 pp. 373–444 pls 308–316 [11 Sept. 1917, volume dated as 1916-1917 Mathews, G.M. 1919. The Birds of Australia. London : Witherby & Co. Vol. 7 pt 5 pp. 385–499 + xii pls 363–370 Appendixes A & B [publication dated as from preface, 12 June 1919 given in Appendix B] (Appendix B)], but still not specified there; identified herein by inference from Mathews' green type label among syntypes listed by Greenway, J.C. 1978. Type specimens of birds in the American Museum of Natural History. Pt 2. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 161: 1–306].

  Type data:

   Lectotype AMNH 623425 ♂ (G.M. Mathews' coll. no. unspecified), New South Wales.
  Paralectotype(s) AMNH 623426 ♂ (G.M. Mathews' coll. no. unspecified); AMNH 623429 ♀ (G.M. Mathews' coll. no. unspecified); AMNH 623427 unsexed (G.M. Mathews' coll. no. unspecified); AMNH 623428 unsexed (G.M. Mathews' coll. no. unspecified); AMNH 623429 ♀ (G.M. Mathews' coll. no. unspecified); AMNH 623427 unsexed (G.M. Mathews' coll. no. unspecified); AMNH 623428 unsexed (G.M. Mathews' coll. no. unspecified).

  Subsequent designation references:

  Mathews, G.M. 1917. The Birds of Australia. London : Witherby & Co. Vol. 6 pt 5 pp. 373-444 pls 308-316. [Date published 11 Sept. 1917: volume dated as 1916-1917 Mathews, G.M. 1919. The Birds of Australia. London : Witherby & Co. Vol. 7 pt 5 pp. 385–499 + xii pls 363–370 Appendixes A & B [publication dated as from preface, 12 June 1919 given in Appendix B] (Appendix B)] [422].

  Type locality references:

  Greenway, J.C. 1978. Type specimens of birds in the American Museum of Natural History. Pt 2. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 161: 1-306.

Taxonomic Decision for Synonymy

• Condon, H.T. 1975. Checklist of the Birds of Australia. Part 1 Non-Passerines. Melbourne : Royal Australasian Ornithologists Union xx 311 pp. [200] (based on Condon, H.T. 1941. The Australian broadtailed parrots (subfamily Platycercinae). Records of the South Australian Museum 7: 117–144)

Distribution

States

New South Wales, Queensland

Extra Distribution Information

Extinct, formerly occurred in south-eastern and south-central Regions of QLD and in Northern Rivers and Northern Tableland Regions of NSW, subcoastal central E Australia, north to Belyando River valley (possibly as far as the Suttor River) and Rockhampton, QLD, east to Kroombit, Burnett and Brisbane River valleys, QLD, south to Casino and Inverell, NSW, and west to Goondiwindi, Roma and the upper Comet and Nogoa Rivers, QLD—early records from further north to Coen and the Archer and Mitchell Rivers, Cape York Peninsula, are unconfirmed and probably misidentifications of Psephotus chrysopterygius Gould, 1858, with which P. pulcherrimus (Gould, 1845) was probably allopatric. Probably extinct since 1930s.

Ecological Descriptors

Arboreal, diurnal, granivore, gregarious, nomadic, open forest, resident, terrestrial, volant, woodland.

Extra Ecological Information

(seasonal breeder), sexually dimorphic, in well-grassed eucalypt and paperbark (Melaleuca) woodland and open forest with termitaria, fed almost exclusively on grass seeds on or near the ground, nested on bed of earth in burrows in termitaria, probably wandered locally to seasonal food sources.

General References

Chisholm, A.H. 1922. The 'Lost' Paradise Parrot. The Emu 22: 4-17 (distribution, status, nidification)

Chisholm, A.H. 1924. Seeking Rare Parrots. The Emu 24: 25-32 (feeding)

Chisholm, A.H. 1945. Birds of the Gilbert diary, Part 2. The Emu 44: 183-200 (possible occurrences)

Irby, F.M. 1927. Further notes on rare parrots. The Emu 27: 13-16 (occurrence)

Peters, J.L. 1937. Check-list of Birds of the World. Cambridge : Harvard University Press Vol. 3 xiii 311 pp. (synonymy)

Salvadori, T. 1891. Catalogue of the Birds in the British Museum. Catalogue of the Psittaci, or Parrots. London : British Museum Vol. 20 xvii 658 pp. XVIII pls. (synonymy and specific limits)

Vernon, D.P. 1971. Paradise Parrot Psephotus pulcherrimus: notes on Australian holdings, distribution and under-wing plumage pattern. Sunbird 2: 17-23 (occurrence, plumages, specimen records)

History of changes