I keep thinking about the Carolina Parakeet. Most of the eastern United States once had flocks of native parrots. Seems hard to believe, doesn’t it?
Ever since I read about Dominican amber, I think about how many taxa the Caribbean once had, that are now only in Central and South America. I would rather have army ants and leafcutter ants than fire ants. Back in 2020, I posted a thread about The lost macaws of the Caribbean. As colorful as the Islands are, think of how much more colorful they would be if they had endemic versions of every Central American taxon.