 Réunion is 3 million years old , which is enough time for new genera to evolve , but many endemics would have been wiped out by the eruption of the volcano Piton des Neiges between 300 @,@ 000 and 180 @,@ 000 years ago . Most recent and extant species would therefore probably be descendants of animals which had recolonised the island from Africa or Madagascar after this event . If the Mascarene parrot had in fact evolved into a distinct genus on Réunion prior to the volcanic eruption , it would have been one of the few survivors of this extinction event . 
