Mauritius Grey Parrot (Lophopsittacus bensoni)
Posted on 31 December, 1800 in Extinct
Year Last Seen:
1800
Comments:
This species was known from Mauritius, but hunting has driven it Extinct. It was last reported in 1764.
Habitat:
It inhabited the forest.
Causes:
It was widely eaten and is likely to have become extinct through overhunting.
Distribution:
Lophopsittacus bensoni was described from a lower mandible, palatine and tarsometatarsus found in caves near Port Louis, Mauritius (Holyoak 1973), and was almost certainly the small grey parrot described by numerous early writers. In 1764, Cossigny noted that "the woods are full of parrots, either completely grey or completely green. One used to eat them a lot formerly, the grey especially", but this was the last mention of the species, and presumably it subsequently declined rapidly to extinction. There are also a number of reports of small grey parrots from Réunion which probably refer to this or a closely related species (Cheke 1987).