Editing Psittacidae (section)

== Evolutionary history ==
This family probably had its origin early in the [[Paleogene]] period, 66–23&nbsp;million years ago (Mya), after the western half of [[Gondwana]] had separated into the continents of Africa and South America, before the divergence of African and New World lineages around 30–35&nbsp;Mya.<ref name="multilocus"/> The New World parrots, and by implication Old World parrots, last shared a common ancestor with the Australian cockatoos in the family  the [[Cacatuidae]] approximately 33&nbsp;Mya.<ref name=smith/>

The data place most of the diversification of psittaciformes around 40&nbsp;Mya, after the separation of Australia from West Antarctica and South America.<ref name="multilocus">{{cite journal|last=Schweizer|first=M.|author2=Seehausen O |author3=Hertwig ST |title=Macroevolutionary patterns in the diversification of parrots: effects of climate change, geological events and key innovations|pmc=2727385|journal=Journal of Biogeography|year=2011|volume=38|issue = 11|pages=2176–2194|doi=10.1111/j.1365-2699.2011.02555.x|pmid = 18653733|bibcode=2011JBiog..38.2176S }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last=Wright |display-authors=etal |first=T.|title=A Multilocus Molecular Phylogeny of the Parrots (Psittaciformes): Support for a Gondwanan Origin during the Cretaceous|journal=Molecular Biology and Evolution|date=Oct 2008|volume=25|issue=10|pages=2141–2156|doi=10.1093/molbev/msn160|pmid=18653733|pmc=2727385}}</ref> Divergence of the Psittacidae from the ancestral parrots resulted from a common radiation event from what was then West Antarctica into South America, then Africa, via late [[Cretaceous]] land bridges that survived through the Paleogene.<ref>{{cite web|last=Remsen|first=Van|title=Proposal (599) to South American Classification Committee: Revise classification of the Psittaciformes|url=http://www.museum.lsu.edu/~Remsen/SACCprop599.htm|access-date=17 December 2013}}</ref>