Palaeospheniscus gracilis

Taxobox
name = "Palaeospheniscus gracilis"
status = fossil
fossil_range = Early Miocene
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Aves
ordo = Sphenisciformes
familia = Spheniscidae
subfamilia = Palaeospheniscinae
genus = "Palaeospheniscus"
species = "P. gracilis"
binomial = "Palaeospheniscus gracilis"
binomial_authority = Ameghino, 1899
synonyms =
*"Palaeospheniscus nereius" Ameghino, 1901
*"Neculus rothi" Ameghino, 1905
*"Paraspheniscus nereius" Ameghino, 1905
*"Palaeospheniscus medianus" Ameghino, 1905

"Palaeospheniscus gracilis" was a species of the species of the extinct penguin genus "Palaeospheniscus". It was the smallest species of its genus, with a height of 40-60 cm. Average individuals, thus, were about the size of the Galapagos Penguin.

This species was long believed to have first been found in Early Oligocene deposits. However, it seems that the type specimen, a tarsometatarsus, was recovered not from Early Oligocene rocks, but was found on top of them, having been displaced there from a later stratum. The location where the bone was found seems to have been near Cabeza Blanca. At any rate, all later specimens were found in the Early Miocene Patagonian Molasse Formation; those that have locality data are from the area around Trelew and Gaiman in Chubut Province, Argentina.

Some recent researchersFact|date=February 2007 have suggested that this species should be considered a synonym of "Palaeospheniscus bergi".

References

* Ameghino, Florentino (1899): [Description of "Palaeospheniscus gracilis"] . "In: Sinopsis geologico-paleontologica (Segundo censo de la República Argentina). Suplemento.": 9. La Plata: La Libertad.
* Simpson, George Gaylord (1946): Fossil penguins. "Bull. Am. Mus. Nat. Hist." 87: 7-99. [http://digitallibrary.amnh.org/dspace/bitstream/2246/392/1/B087a01.pdf PDF fulltext]
* Simpson, George Gaylord (1971): Conspectus of Patagonian fossil penguins. "American Museum Novitates" 2488: 1-37. [http://digitallibrary.amnh.org/dspace/bitstream/2246/2696/1/N2488.pdf PDF fulltext]