Spheniscus megaramphus is a species of fossil extinct penguin, characterized by having a greater proportion of the face or beak in relation to the skull than in current species.[1][2][3]
It was found in Peru, and described by researchers Marcelo Stucchi, Mario Urbina (who collected the specimens in the field in 2000) and Alfredo Giraldo in 2003.
The epithet assigned to the species comes from the Greek Megas, large, and Ramphos, beak, alluding to the large face in relation to the skull of the species. The holotype is currently deposited in the collection of the Department of Vertebrate Paleontology of the Universidad Mayor de San Marcos in Lima, Peru.The first specimens were extracted from the Montemar level of the Pisco geological formation; this level dates from the late Miocene, that is, about 6 million years ago.[4][5]
The main characteristics of the species are being up to 30% larger than the current species of the genus Spheniscus, having a face up to 60% longer in relation to the neurocranium and narrower at the level of the nasofrontal suture, a reduced cranial roof and the straight mandible with shorter articular than in the other species of the genus.[6]
References[]
- ↑ https://www.researchgate.net/figure/The-megaramphus-type-penguins-compared-with-the-living-Humboldt-penguin-Spheniscus_fig2_272479767
- ↑ https://www.mindat.org/taxon-8460076.html
- ↑ https://dbpedia.org/page/Spheniscus_megaramphus
- ↑ www.fossilworks.org/cgi-bin/bridge.pl?a=taxonInfo&taxon_no=173496
- ↑ https://www.reddit.com/r/Naturewasmetal/comments/ssnlob/a_trio_of_spheniscus_megaramphus_swim_past_a/
- ↑ https://www.reddit.com/r/Naturewasmetal/comments/j5v1p8/spheniscus_megarhamphus_the_miocene_killer_penguin/