| Heracles inexpectatus Temporal range: Burdigalian
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| Life restoration of H. inexpectatus comparison to an Nelepsittacus minimus | |
Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Psittaciformes |
| Genus: | †Heracles Worthy et al, 2019 |
| Species: | †H. inexpectatus
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| Binomial name | |
| †Heracles inexpectatus | |
Heracles inexpectatus is a giant fossil parrot species from New Zealand, assigned to a monotypic genus Heracles, that lived during the early Miocene approximately 16 to 19 million years ago. The species was described from two tibiotarsus fossils discovered in 2008 at Saint Bathans, Otago, New Zealand.[2] It is believed that the species stood up to 90 cm (2 ft 11 in) tall and weighed approximately 7 kg (15 lb).[2] Initial analysis suggests that this parrot is from the order Psittaciformes[2] and from the superfamily Strigopoidea, which consists of three confirmed primitive genera of parrots: Nestor (Kea and Kākā), Strigops (Kākāpō) and the fossil Nelepsittacus. It may have been the ancestor of the kākāpō.
The species was likely flightless, and its robust beak could crack open more than the conventional parrot foods of fruit, nuts, and berries. Like the kākāpō, Heracles may have used its strong beak to climb trees. It shared its environment with five other species of parrot in the genus Nelepsittacus, as well as dozens of other bird species in the St Bathans Fauna. Heracles inexpectatus is the largest parrot known to have existed. Media releases described the new species as the "Hercules parrot" and reported the nickname given by the palaeontologist Mike Archer of "Squawkzilla".
- ^ Worthy, Trevor H.; Hand, Suzanne J.; Archer, Michael; Scofield, R. Paul; De Pietri, Vanesa L. (2019). "Evidence for a giant parrot from the early Miocene of New Zealand". Biology Letters. 15 (8). doi:10.1098/rsbl.2019.0467. PMC 6731479. PMID 31387471.
- ^ a b c Worthy, Trevor H.; Hand, Suzanne J.; Archer, Michael; Scofield, R. Paul; De Pietri, Vanesa L. (August 2019). "Evidence for a giant parrot from the Early Miocene of New Zealand". Biology Letters. 15 (8): 20190467. doi:10.1098/rsbl.2019.0467. ISSN 1744-9561. PMC 6731479. PMID 31387471.