The plea for the elevation of the Cape Parrot from a sub-specie of the Brown-Necked Parrot to a new specie, doesn't end with the rejection of BirdLife International last 2012, as researchers are now presenting new genetic evidence in addition to the past submitted evidences.
Researchers from the University of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa have formerly requested that the Cape Parrot be listed as a different species from the brown-necked parrot.
They have previously argued that the cape parrot and brown-necked parrot breed at different times of the year and in different kinds of trees, as well as eat different kinds of food.
To be considered as a separate specie, related animals or plants with intersecting arrays must be proven not to interbreed with one another.
The cape parrot is not yet recognized as a new specie, therefore it is not yet listed in the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources' Red List of Threatened Species.
"Subspecies are not always given the same conservation consideration as species ... which can hinder protection of genetically distinct lineages," wrote the researchers, led by Willem Coetzer of the University of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa.
BirdLife International was not convinced by the differentiation proposed by the researchers in 2012. The researchers said that conservation groups such as BirdLife require a much more sophisticated differentiation like a genetic data.
The researchers studied 138 specimens of parrots. The birds were chosen based on their distribution ranges either overlapping or being in close proximity to the brown-necked parrot and the cape parrot.
After the study, analysis identified the Cape Parrot as genetically distinct from the other P. robustus subspecies. The most recent common ancestor between the Cape Parrot and P. r. fuscicollis and P. r. suahelicus was at about 2 million years ago. The authors suggest their results support previous recommendations to elevate the Cape Parrot to species level, which may facilitate better planning and implementation of international and local conservation management strategies for the Cape Parrot.
