Unravelling the mystery of parrot longevity
Credit: © Natalia Kuzmina / stock.adobe.comParrots are famous for their remarkable cognitive abilities and exceptionally long lifespans. Now, a study led by Max Planck researchers has shown that one of these traits has likely been caused by the other. By examining 217 parrot species, the researchers revealed that species such as the scarlet macaw and sulphur-crested cockatoo have extremely long average lifespans, of up to 30 years, which are usually seen only in large birds.
The analysis revealed an astonishing diversity in life expectancy, ranging from an average of two years for the fig parrot up to an average of 30 years for the scarlet macaw. Other long-lived species include the sulphur crested cockatoo from Australia, which lives on average 25 years. They then combined the data and ran models for each hypothesis, looking at which model best explained the data. Their results provide the first support that increased brain size has enabled longer lifespans in parrots.
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