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Pakudyptes-fossil-penguin

Tatsuya Shinmura's speculative reconstruction of Pachydyptes hakataramea

Pakudyptes is an extinct genus of small penguin (Sphenisciformes) known from the Oligocene of New Zealand. Only one species of the genus is known, P. kakataramea.

Discovery and Naming[]

In 1987, Craig M. Jones and R. Ewan Fordyce collected three bones on a series of field trips in South Cantbury, New Zealand. The findings were received by the collections of the Geology Museum of the University of Otago. They are labeled under OU 21976 (left ulna), OU 21977 (left humerus), and OU 21966 (right femur).[1]
These remains were studied in Tatsuya Ando et al. 2024 and name Pakudyptes hakataramea ("small wing of Hakataramea"), of after the locality in which it was discovered (Hakataramea Quarry). It dated to the Waitakian state of the Late Oligocene epoch, around 24 mya.

Classification[]

A phylogenetic analysis placed P. hakataramea one node crown ward of the blade that encompasses Palaeospheniscus and crown Sphenisciformes (including modern species).

Description[]

Pakudyptes-bone-chart

Known elements of Pakudyptes hakataramea compared with contemporary bones in the little blue penguin (Eudyptula minor).

The size of Pakudyptes is on par with the 1-kilogram Eretiscus tonnii from the Miocene of Argentina [2], as well as the little blue penguin (Eudyptula minor) which inhabits New Zealand around 24 million years after Pakudyptes. These three penguins are the smallest species known. The little blue penguin has an average size of 2-3 lbs (0.9-1.4 kg) with a height of 13-15 in (36-43 cm).[3]
The less advanced shoulder joint of Pakudyptes, compared to modern penguins, allows more range of motion but not the limited caudal flexion (downward flapping) that allows crown Sphenisciformes to generate a flapping thrust. Pakudyptes may therefore have been somewhat slower in water.

Paleoecology[]

Another fossil penguin Platydyptes marplesi was collected from the same horizon as the elements of Pakudyptes hakataramea (Otekaike Limestone of the Hakataramea Quarry). Coexistence between multiple species of penguins in the past and present is not uncommon.[4][5]. The smaller Pakudyptes certainly must have niche partitioned with Platydyptes, feeding on different fish populations.

References[]

  1. Ando, T., Robinson, J., Loch, C., Nakahara, T., Hayashi, S., Richards, M. D., & Fordyce, R. E. (2024). A new tiny fossil penguin from the Late Oligocene of New Zealand and the morphofunctional transition of the penguin wing. Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand, 1–22. https://doi.org/10.1080/03036758.2024.2362283
  2. https://fossilpenguins.wordpress.com/2010/08/30/eretiscus-tonnii-the-smallest-fossil-penguin/
  3. https://www.aquariumofpacific.org/onlinelearningcenter/species/little_blue_penguin#:~:text=Standing%20height%3A%2036%20to%2043,of%20these%20penguins%20varies%20seasonally.
  4. Jadwiszczak, Piotr. (2006). Eocene penguins of Seymour Island, Antarctica: Taxonomy. Polish Polar Research. 27. 3-62.
  5. https://www.seabirds.org/falklands-penguins.htm
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