Pachydyptes

Pachydyptes Temporal range: Late Eocene
Pachydyptes ponderosus
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Sphenisciformes
Family:	Spheniscidae
Subfamily:	Palaeeudyptinae
Genus:	Pachydyptes Oliver, 1930
Species:	P. ponderosus
Binomial name
Pachydyptes ponderosus Oliver, 1930
Synonyms
Palaeeudyptets antarcticus Hector, 1873 (partim) Pachydyptes ponderosa Lowe, 1939 (lapsus) Anthropornis ponderosus Lowe, 1939 Anthropornis ponderosa Lowe, 1939 (lapsus) Anthropornis nordenskjoldi Lowe, 1939 (partim)

Pachydyptes is an extinct genus of penguin. It contains the single species Pachydyptes ponderosus, the New Zealand Giant Penguin. This taxon is known from a few bones from Late Eocene (37 to 34 MYA) rocks in the area of Otago.

With a height of 140 to 160 cm (about 5 ft) and weighing around 80 to possibly over 100 kg, it was the second-tallest penguin ever, surpassed only by Anthropornis nordenskjoeldi in height, but probably not in weight.

Pachydyptes was slightly larger than Icadyptes salasi, the best-identified of the giant penguins.

References

• Oliver, Walter R. B. (1930). [Genus Pachydyptes]. In: New Zealand birds, 85-86. Wellington: Fine Arts.

External links

• Wikinews: Students find fossilised giant penguin
• Geocities NatureLand 5218: Information in Japanese, good reconstruction

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