Jaime G. Morin Lagos - Evolutionary history of parrots elucidated by museum genomics and pre-Hispanic South American parrot remains

A parrot featherwork object from the Túcume site, Perú.

Home institution and supervisors
Michael D. Martin, José Cerca. NTNU, Norway.

Host institution and supervisors
Letty Salinas, César Arana. UNMSM, Peru. Bernarda Delgado Elias, Túcume Site Museum, Peru. 2023.

Project description
Parrots had a central role in many pre-Hispanic Latin American cultures, evidenced by the vast amount of featherworks and parrot-shaped objects found in areological excavations all over the region. However, little is known about the genetic composition and dynamics of these parrot populations in Peru, both in ancient times and modern days. This project first aims to carry out a population genomic study of Ara ararauna and Ara chloropterus to investigate their populations' current status. This initial study will be used as a baseline to then analyze paleo-genomic data obtained from parrot remains (i.e., mummies, bones, feathers from featherworks) from Peruvian archaeological sites and excavations.