Palaeospheniscus

Taxobox
name = "Palaeospheniscus"
status = fossil
fossil_range = Early? - Late Miocene/Early Pliocene
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Aves
ordo = Sphenisciformes
familia = Spheniscidae
subfamilia = Palaeospheniscinae
genus = "Palaeospheniscus"
genus_authority = Moreno & Mercerat, 1891
subdivision_ranks = Species
subdivision = "Palaeospheniscus patagonicus" (type) "Palaeospheniscus wimani" (disputed) "Palaeospheniscus gracilis" (disputed) "Palaeospheniscus bergi" "Palaeospheniscus biloculatus"
synonyms ="Neculus" Ameghino, 1905 "Paraspheniscus" Ameghino, 1905 "Perispheniscus" Ameghino, 1905 "Pseudospheniscus" Ameghino, 1905 "Chubutodyptes" Simpson, 1970 (disputed)

"Palaeospheniscus" is an extinct genus of penguins which contains three species at present. They are all (except "P. bergi", which is somewhat enigmatic) known from one or two handful of bones. All specimens were found in Santa Cruz and Chubut Provinces of Patagonia, Argentina. The fossils were recovered from the Patagonian Molasse Formation, and are probably Early Miocene to Late Miocene or possibly Early Pliocene in age (Stucchi "et al." 2003). "Palaeospheniscus gracilis" was long believed to be from the Early Oligocene, but this is now thought to be erroneous. "P. gracilis" and "P. wimani" are often considered synonyms of "P. patagonicus"Fact|date=February 2007. Recent researchers also tend to merge "Chubutodyptes" into this genus as "P. biloculatus"Fact|date=February 2007.

The species of "Palaeospheniscus" were medium-sized to largish penguins, ranging from "P. gracilis" with an estimated maximal length of 55 cm to "P. wimani", which reached up to 73 cm.

"Palaeospheniscus" is the namesake genus of the subfamily Palaeospheniscinae, the Patagonian slender-footed penguins. These are apparently not closely related to the modern genus "Spheniscus".

References

* Moreno, Francisco & Mercerat, A. (1891): Catálogo de los pájaros fósiles de la República Argentina conservados en el Museo de La Plata. "Anales del Museo de La Plata" 1: 7-71, 21 plates.

* Simpson, George Gaylord (1972): Conspectus of Patagonian fossil penguins. "American Museum novitates" 2488: 1-37. [http://digitallibrary.amnh.org/dspace/bitstream/2246/2696/1/N2488.pdf PDF fulltext]

* Stucchi, Marcelo; Urbina, Mario & Giraldo, Alfredo (2003): Una nueva especie de Spheniscidae del Mioceno Tardío de la Formación Pisco, Perú. "Bulletin Institut Français d'Études Andines" 32(2): 361-375. [http://redalyc.uaemex.mx/redalyc/pdf/126/12632206.pdf PDF fulltext]