Pocock reported that remains of lovebirds belonging to the genus Agapornis have been discovered at the Kromdraai fossil site in Gauteng, South Africa.

[1] Marco Pavia further published two papers reporting fossil remains of Agapornis, one in 2020 mentioning a humerus at Kromdraai, and the other in 2022 detailing a variety of small bones from the nearby Cooper's Cave.

[4][5] In 2024, a study on the fossil lovebird remains found in the Cradle of Humankind (a World Heritage Site about 50 km (31 mi) northwest of Johannesburg, South Africa) was published.

The wing bones of this fossil species are comparable in size to those of the extant Fischer's, Lilian's and black-cheeked lovebirds, suggesting it was about as large as these small modern forms.

The humerus has a prominent dorsal tubercle and a deep attachment for the brachialis muscle, making it more similar to that of the extinct Agapornis attenboroughi than any extant lovebirds.

[1] Because all but one living species of lovebirds eat mainly grass seeds and secondarily feed on fruit, it is believed that Agapornis longipes had a similar diet.

[10] A. longipes has the proportionally longest legs of all known lovebirds, suggesting that this prehistoric species lived primarily on the ground rather than in trees, feeding on grass seeds in the tall, dense foliage of the South African grasslands.

[1] Even so, the breeding habits of A. longipes are still presumably similar to those of living lovebirds, which require tall trees with either natural cavities or holes made by other birds (such as African barbets and woodpeckers) to lay their eggs in.