Palaeeudyptes klekowskii

Taxobox
name = "Palaeeudyptes klekowskii"
fossil_range = Late Eocene
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
subphylum = Vertebrata
classis = Aves
ordo = Sphenisciformes
familia = Spheniscidae
genus = "Palaeeudyptes"
species = "P. klekowskii"
binomial = "Palaeeudyptes klekowskii"
binomial_authority = Myrcha, Tatur & del Valle, 1990

"Palaeeudyptes klekowskii" was a species of the extinct penguin genus "Palaeeudyptes". It was approximately the size of its congener "Palaeeudyptes antarcticus": somewhat larger than the Emperor Penguin. It is known from an extensive collection of fossil bones from the Late Eocene (34-37 MYA) of the La Meseta Formation on Seymour Island, Antarctica. "P. klekowskii" was at first not recognized as a distinct species, and despite the coexistence of two so closely related species of similar size as "Palaeeudyptes gunnari" and "P. klekowskii" seeming somewhat improbable, the amount of fossil material suggests that the two species are indeed diagnosably different.

References

* Jadwiszczak, Piotr (2006): Eocene penguins of Seymour Island, Antarctica: Taxonomy. "Polish Polar Research" 27(1): 3–62. [http://www.polish.polar.pan.pl/ppr27/ppr27-003.pdf PDF fulltext]
* Myrcha, Andrzej; Jadwiszczak, Piotr; Tambussi, Claudia P.; Noriega, Jorge I.; Gaździcki, Andrzej; Tatur, Andrzej & Del Valle, Rodolfo A. (2002): Taxonomic revision of Eocene Antarctic penguins based on tarsometatarsal morphology. "Polish Polar Research" 23(1): 5–46. [http://www.polish.polar.pan.pl/ppr23/ppr23-005.pdf PDf fulltext]
* Myrcha, Andrzej; Tatur, Andrzej & Del Valle, Rodolfo A. (1990) A new species of fossil penguin from Seymour Island, West Antarctica. "Alcheringa" 14: 195–205.