Daniadyptes

Daniadyptes
Temporal range: early Middle Paleocene (Selandian), ~
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Clade: Austrodyptornithes
Order: Sphenisciformes
Genus: †
Mayr et al., 2025
Species:
†D. primaevus
Binomial name
†Daniadyptes primaevus
Mayr et al., 2025

Daniadyptes (meaning "Danian diver") is a genus of extinct penguins known from the Paleocene (Selandian age) Waipara Greensand of New Zealand. The genus contains a single species, Daniadyptes primaevus, known from a right humerus and possibly a right tibiotarsus. Phylogenetic analyses place Daniadyptes as the basalmost member of the Sphenisciformes.[1]

Daniadyptes 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 Archaeodyptes, 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.