Phoenicoparrus

While it is hard to track where the Phoenicoparrus originally came from, there is evidence that it originated in the New World where it split from the other lesser group and into its own genus. The base of the genus is hypothesized to have started with the Andean species. The Phoenicoparrus split from the group around 2.56 million years ago and its two comprising species later split from 0.5-2.5 million years ago. Phoenicoparrus is identified from the rest of its evolutionary group because it is a part of the deep-keeled group, however it is its own genus because both Andean and James's lack a hind toe.^[4]

Andean flamingo (center) amidst a flock of James's flamingos

Phoenicoparrus chicks are fed filtered secretions from their parents for the first 4-7 weeks of life. The parents are able to filter sediments from the saline concentrated lakes in the wetlands they typically inhabit. Chicks tend to have higher amounts of arsenic and iron in their bodies, and excessive concentrations can be dangerous. Adults, particularly females, have lower amounts of iron in their bodies because the shells they produce for the chicks have high iron concentrations.^[5] Phoenicoparrus are said to eat diatoms and vegetation such as algae because of the deep-keel of their beaks suited for filtration.^[4] Both species feed their chicks through crop halocrine secretions that contain a larger amount of lipids than proteins, and it contains some amount of carbohydrates. While both species do not get sucrose in their diets from their parents when they are younger, a lack of sucrose in the body can sometimes be fatal. These species can be found in habitats in southern South America, such as northern Chile.^[6]