The thick-billed parrots are stocky brilliant green Neotropical parrots with heavy black beaks of genus Rhynchopsitta of thick billed macaw-like parrots. The genus comprises two extant species, the thick-billed parrot and the maroon-fronted parrot, as well as an extinct species from the Late Pleistocene in Mexico. The two extant taxa were formerly considered conspecific; they have become rare and are restricted to a few small areas in northern Mexico. The range of the thick-billed parrot formerly extended into the southwestern United States; attempts at reintroduction have been unsuccessful so far. Description The two living species have a similar overall appearance, the principal differences lying in their relative sizes and brightness of coloration. Both are mainly green, with red or maroon markings on the forehead, forecrown, broad superciliary stripe, and feathers on the bend of the wing, the carpal edge and the thighs. Their eye-rings are yellow, with the feet and beak dark gray to black. Juveniles have a pale beak fading to gray at the base, whitish eye-rings, and a red brow, but lack the dark red stripes over the eye-rings. The maroon-fronted parrot is generally dark green with maroon-brown head markings and is between 40 cm (16 in) and 45 cm (18 in) in length while the thick-billed parrot is about 38 cm (15 in) long with brighter colors. Taxonomy The genus was described by French naturalist Charles Lucien Bonaparte; the name is derived from the Ancient Greek terms rhynchos "beak", and psitta "parrot". The two extant taxa were considered subspecies of a single species, before being split. Rhynchopsitta Bonaparte, 1854 Rhynchopsitta pachyrhyncha (Swainson, 1827) (thick-billed parrot) Rhynchopsitta terrisi Moore, 1947 (maroon-fronted parrot) †Rhynchopsitta phillipsi Rea, 1997 - extinct Rhynchopsitta phillipsi, a larger prehistoric relative, was described from Late Pleistocene fossils found in Nuevo León, Mexico. It was not an ancestor to the living species, as bones of them were also found at San Josecito Cave when R. phillipsi remains were recovered. The prehistoric species had a distinct bill shape and may have occurred sympatrically with the maroon-fronted parrot in the northern Sierra Madre Oriental. Possibly its bill was adapted to feeding on a species of pine which disappeared due to climate change at the end of the last ice age, driving it to extinction. Ecology Both extant species are found at heights of between 1500 and 3000 m asl in Mexico in isolated island-like forest habitats in the