Kakapo became isolated from the remaining parrot species when New Zealand broke off from Gondwana, around 82 million years ago. Around 30 million years ago, the kakapo diverged from the genus "Nestor". Earlier ornithologists felt that the kakapo might be related to the ground parrots and night parrot of Australia due to their similar coloration, but this is contradicted by recent studies; rather, the cryptic colour seems to be adaptation to terrestrial habits that evolved twice convergently. The kakapo is a large, rotund parrot; the adult can measure from in length, and weight can vary from at maturity. Males are larger
Kakapo kakapo is believed to employ bacteria in the fore-gut to ferment and help digest plant matter. Kakapo diet changes according to the season. The plants eaten most frequently during the year include some species of "Lycopodium ramulosum", "Lycopodium fastigium", "Schizaea fistulosa", "Blechnum minus", "Blechnum procerum", "Cyathodes juniperina", "Dracophyllum longifolium", "Olearia colensoi" and "Thelymitra venosa". Individual plants of the same species are often treated differently. Kakapo leave conspicuous evidence of their feeding activities, over feeding areas that range between and per individual. Kakapo feeding grounds almost always host manuka and yellow silver pine ("Lepidothamnus intermedius") scrubs. Fossil records indicate that in