Molothrus resinosus is an extinct species of bird in the family Icteridae. Its fossils are from the late Pleistocene Talara Tar Seeps of northwestern Peru.
| Molothrus resinosus Temporal range:
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|---|---|
Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Passeriformes |
| Family: | Icteridae |
| Genus: | Molothrus |
| Species: | †M. resinosus
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| Binomial name | |
| †Molothrus resinosus Steadman & Oswald, 2020
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The species name resinosus is derived from Latin and means "full of resin", referring to the tar seeps where it was discovered.
Molothrus resinosus was a medium-large-sized species of cowbird, much smaller than the giant cowbird but substantially larger than the shiny cowbird. Some extant icterids live alongside large grazing mammals, foraging near them; likewise, the Talara cowbird may have been closely associated with Pleistocene megafauna, and the demise of the latter may have led to the bird's extinction.[1]
References
edit- ^ Steadman, David W.; Oswald, Jessica A. (2020-07-22). "New species of troupial (Icterus) and cowbird (Molothrus) from ice-age Peru". The Wilson Journal of Ornithology. 132 (1): 91. doi:10.1676/1559-4491-132.1.91. ISSN 1559-4491.
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