Archaeodyptes

Archaeodyptes
Temporal range: early Late Paleocene (Thanetian), ~
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Clade: Austrodyptornithes
Order: Sphenisciformes
Genus: †
Mayr et al., 2025
Species:
†A. waitahaorum
Binomial name
†Archaeodyptes waitahaorum
Mayr et al., 2025

Archaeodyptes (meaning "old diver") is a genus of extinct penguins known from the Paleocene (Thanetian age) Waipara Greensand of New Zealand. The genus contains a single species, Archaeodyptes waitahaorum, known from a partial skeleton including skull bones. It is comparable in size to the modern yellow-eyed penguin (Megadyptes antipodes).[1]

Archaeodyptes is one of many early-diverging sphenisciforms from the Waipara Greensand, all of which represent some of the oldest known penguins in the fossil record. The other named genera include Daniadyptes, Muriwaimanu, Sequiwaimanu, Waimanu, Waimanutaha, and Waiparadyptes.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b Mayr, Gerald; De Pietri, Vanesa L.; Proffitt, James; Blokland, Jacob C.; Clarke, Julia A.; Love, Leigh; Mannering, Al A.; Crouch, Erica M.; Reid, Catherine; Scofield, R. Paul (2025-08-12). "Multiple exceptionally preserved fossils from the Paleocene Waipara Greensand inform the diversity of the oldest stem group Sphenisciformes and the formation of their diving adaptations". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 204 (4): zlaf080. doi:10.1093/zoolinnean/zlaf080. ISSN 0024-4082.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.