Appendix 2. Annotated list of morphological and behavioural characters used for phylogenetic analysis.

  1. Upper beak, dorsal part of culmen straight, narial openings shifted dorsally, widely separated by broadened nasalia: no (0); yes (1).
  2. Os lacrimale, proc. orbitalis extremely elongated (Thompson 1899; Smith 1975, 1981): no (0); yes, reaching almost as far caudal as the rostral tip of proc. zygomaticus (1); yes, fuses with proc. zygomaticus forming an orbital ring (2).
    An earlier illustration of the skull of A. taranta with short proc. orbitalis lacrimalis (Smith 1975, fig. 5f) is misleading. The orbital ring of Melopsittacus undulatus is formed by fusion of proc. orbitalis lacrimalis, proc. zygomaticus and proc. postorbitalis.
  3. Meatus acusticus externus partly covered by its rostrally protruding caudal margin: no (0); yes (1).
    The slit-like meatus acusticus externus in Neophema elegans and Eunymphicus cornutus is not comparable to the narrowed meatus acusticus externus of A. roseicollis and the species of the A. personatus-group. Contrary to earlier statements (Thompson 1899; Verheyen 1956), a narrowed meatus acusticus is not characteristic for all lovebirds, because it is wide in A. canus, A. pullarius, A. swindernianus, and A. taranta.
  4. Proc. rostralis palatini shortened: no (0); yes (1).
  5. Os palatinum, medial palatine spur: short and blunt (0); elongated, needle-shaped (1).
    These spurs, erroneously labelled as procc. accessorii palatini in Zusi and Livezey (2006, fig. 10a), serve as attachment sites of the medial slip of M. pterygoideus ventralis medialis (Burton 1974). The palatine spurs of parrots are generally short and blunt, e.g. in Loriculus, Bolbopsittacus, Loriinae. Nestor notabilis has extremely elongated palatine spurs, but Psittrichas fulgidus lacks them completely (the two latter species were not included in the phylogenetic analysis).
  6. Os palatinum, pars lateralis with two prominent longitudinal crest converging rostrally into prominent pointed process: no (0); yes (1).
  7. Os palatinum, pars lateralis, proc. accessorius palatini strongly elongated, projects much further caudally than angulus caudolateralis palatini: no (0); yes (1).
    The term ‘procc. accessorii palatini’ was first introduced by Zusi and Livezey (2006). In Bolbopsittacus, Loriculus, Melopsittacus, and Psittaculirostis, two or three short procc. accessorii palatini are present.
  8. Proc. paroccipitalis: large and prominent (0); small and inconspicuous (1).
  9. Mandibula, fenestra mandibulae: absent (0); present (1).
    The fenestra mandibulae is either reduced to a minute opening or completely lacking in almost all parrot taxa, including Arinae and Psittaculinae (contra Verheyen 1956). Aside from Agapornis, an enlarged fenestra mandibulae is also present in the only distantly related taxa Coracopsis, Nestor and in some specimens of Psittacus africanus, which were not considered in the present phylogenetic analysis.
  10. Mandibula, proc. retroarticualris enlarged with convex caudolateral margin: no (0); yes (1).
  11. Mandibula, rhamphotheca rostrally: truncated (0); convex (1).
  12. Hyoid apparatus, paraglossa elongated: no (0); yes (1).
  13. Hyoid apparatus, arcus parahyalis present (Mivart 1895; Mudge 1902; Holyoak 1973; Smith 1981; Mayr 2010): no (0); yes (1).
    Presence of an arcus parahyalis in Bolbopsittacus might indicate its close affinities to fig parrots (Cyclopsitta, Psittaculirostris; see Smith 1981), although molecular provided evidence for a sister group-relationship between Bolbopsittacus and Agapornis + Loriculus (Wright et al. 2008; Joseph et al. 2011; Schweizer et al. 2011). In contrast to earlier statements (Smith 1975), the parahyal processes do not converge in A. lilianae. In Neophema elegans, the procc. parahyales are elongated and almost form an arch.
  14. Hyoid apparatus, ligamentum interparaglossale apicale and syndesmosis paraglossis ossified (terminology after Homberger 1986): no (0); yes (1).
    Probably apomorphic for a calde comprising Cyclopsitta, Psittaculirostris, and Bolbopsittacus.
  15. Hyoid apparatus, ceratobrachiale stout, only slightly longer than basihyale, and strongly lateromedially curved: no (0); yes (1).
    Probably apomorphic for a calde comprising Cyclopsitta, Psittaculirostris, and Bolbopsittacus.
  16. Hyoid apparatus, urohyale strongly curved ventrally: no (0); yes (1).
    Probably apomorphic for a calde comprising Cyclopsitta, Psittaculirostris, and Bolbopsittacus.
  17. Furcula, extremitas sternalis almost completely reduced (Verheyen 1956; Mayr 2008, 2010): no (0); yes (1).
  18. Humerus, tuberculum craniodistalis proximoventral well separated from dorsal shaft margin and distinctly ventral to condylus dorsalis: no (0); yes (1).
    Synapomorphy of Loriculus and Agapornis; in non-agapornithine parrots, the tuberculum craniodistalis lies closer to the dorsal shaft margin and also proximal to, but not ventral of the condylus dorsalis (Manegold 2013).
  19. Humerus, fossa pneumotricipitalis dorsalis and capital shaft ridge indistinct (Manegold 2013): no (0); yes (1).
  20. Carpometacarpus, craniocaudally elongated, ridge-like proc. pisiformis present (Manegold 2103): no (0); yes (1).
  21. Tarsometatarsus, single hypotarsal canal for tendons of the two deep flexor muscles (Mayr 2008, 2010): no (0); yes (1).
  22. Tarsometatarsus, tendons of superficial flexor muscles situated in (Mayr 2008, 2010): shallow sulci (0); deep sulcus (pattern A) (1); bony canal (pattern B) (2).
  23. Tarsometatarsus, medial foramen vasculare proximale (Manegold 2013): present (0); absent (1).
  24. Natal down reddish (Neunzig 1929; Hampe 1934; Moreau 1948): no (0); yes (1).
    Hatchlings of Melopsittacus undulatus are naked (neossoptiles remain attached with the embryonic membrans after hatching), and those of Psittacus krameri are almost so (Smith 1975). Hatchlings of Loriculus are insuffiecntly described, but they are apparently not covered in reddish natal down (Stadler, pers. comm.). Information on the hatchlings of Charmosyna rubronotata or Lorius hypoinochrous is not avaibale (Forshaw 1989; Collar 1997).
  25. Juvenals almost indistinguishable from adults, though with in general with slightly duller plumage (Moreau 1948): no (0); yes (1).
    The juvenile plumage of Charmosyna rubronotata is not described.
  26. Sexual dimorphism in plumage, male plumage brighter and more contrastingly coloured than female plumage (Moreau 1948): yes (0); no (1).
  27. Primary coverts, primaries and outer secondaries black on dorsal side: no (0); yes (1).
  28. Underwing coverts of males black (Moreau 1948): no (0); yes (1).
  29. Blue rump patch present (Moreau 1948): no (0); yes (1).
    None of the species of Loriinae selected for outgroup comparisons has a blue rump patch, but this character nevertheless occurs in Chalcopsitta duivbodei and several species of Charmosyna, such as C. josefinae, C. papou, C. pulchella, and C. wilhelminae as well as three of five subspecies of Charmosyna placentis. Not only the rump patch, but most of the plumage is blue coloured in Vini peruviana and V. ultramarina. Similarly, a blue rump patch occurs in several Psittaculinae, such as Alisterus amboinensis, A. chloropterus, A. scapularis, Aprosmictus jonquillaceus, A. erythropterus, one subspecies of Psittinus cyanurus, Tanygnathus lucionensis, T. megalorhynchos, and T. sumatranus, Psittacinae, such as Poicephalus meyeri and P. rueppellii, as well as Arinae, such as Forpus cyanopygius, F. xanthopterygius, F. sclateri, F. conspicillatus, coelestis, F. xanthops, and Touit purpuratus.
  30. Outer tail feathers with green tip, black subterminal band and a patch of brighter colour at the base (Neunzig 1926; Moreau 1948; Dilger 1960): no (0); yes (1); yes, black subterminal band extends to central rectrix pair (2).
    Moreau (1948) supposed that the richness of colour of the basal patch is correlated with the humidity of the environment, because it is bright red in A. swindernianus, red in A. pullarius, dull orange in A. roseicollis and A. personatus-group, and yellow in A. canus and A. taranta.
  31. Feathers around the eye form a contrastingly coloured eye-ring (Moreau 1948): no (0); yes (1).
  32. White ring of naked skin around the eyes present (Neunzig 1926, 1929; Hampe 1934; Moreau 1948): no (0); yes (1).
  33. Transport of nesting material by females present (Neunzig 1926, 1929; Hampe 1934; Moreau 1948): no (0); yes, nesting material is transported among contour feathers and shaken off in the nest cavity (1); yes, nesting material is transported in beak (2).
    Transporting nesting material among contour feathers by captive birds is also reported for Neophema pulchella and N. splendida, but not for other Neophema species (Smith 1975). According to all recent phylogenetic hypotheses, this behaviour evolved independently within Neophema and in the ancestral linage of Agapornis + Loriculus.
  34. Nest cavity (Neunzig 1929; Hampe 1934; Moreau 1948; Dilger 1960): without a proper nest (0); padded with unwoven nesting material (1); padded with cup- or dome-shaped nest (2).

References Appendix 2

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Forshaw JM (1989) Parrots of the World, 3nd edn. Lansdown Editions, Melbourne, Sydney

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Verheyen R (1956) Analyse du potentiel morphologique et projet d’une nouvelle classification des Psittaciformes. Bull Inst Roy Sci Nat Belg 32:1–54

Weidig I (2000) Molekularbiologische Untersuchungen zur Phylogenie der Papageien (Aves: Psittaciformes). Unpublished Diploma thesis, Johann Wolfgang Goethe Univeristy, Frankfurt/Main

Wright TF, Schirtzinger, EE, Matsumoto T, Eberhard JR, Graves GR, Sanchez JJ, Capelli S, Müller H, Scharpegge J, Chambers GK, Fleischer RC (2008) A multilocus molecular phylogeny of the parrots (Psittaciformes): support for a Gondwanan origin during the Cretaceous. Mol Biol Evol 25:2141–2156

Zusi R, Livezey B (2006) Variation in the os palatinum and its structural relation to the palatum osseum of birds (Aves). Ann Carnegie Mus 75:137–180

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