Petradyptes is an extinct genus of penguin that lived during the Late Paleocene epoch, between 60 and 55 million years ago. The genus currently contains one known species, Petradyptes stonehousei.
| Petradyptes Temporal range: Late Paleocene,
~ | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Sphenisciformes |
| Genus: | †Petradyptes Ksepka et al., 2023 |
| Species: | †P. stonehousei
|
| Binomial name | |
| †Petradyptes stonehousei Ksepka et al., 2023
| |
Petradyptes stonehousei was first described in 2023 by an international team of researchers, including scientists from the University of Cambridge and the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa.[1] The fossils of Petradyptes stonehousei were discovered in 57 million-year-old beach boulders in North Otago, on New Zealand's South Island, between 2016 and 2017.[1][2] The fossils were then exposed from within the boulders by Al Manning.[1] They have been identified as being between 59.5 and 55.5 million years old, marking their existence as roughly five to 10 million years after the end-Cretaceous extinction which led to the extinction of non-avian dinosaurs.[1]
Petradyptes stonehousei was smaller than its contemporary Kumimanu fordycei, but still well above the weight of an emperor penguin.[1][2][3] The name Petradyptes combines the Greek 'petra' for rock and 'dyptes' for diver, a play on the diving bird being preserved in a boulder.[1][2][3]
Phylogenetic analyses recover Kumimanu and Petradyptes crownward of the early Paleocene mainland New Zealand taxa Waimanu and Muriwaimanu, but stemward of the Chatham Island taxon Kupoupou.[1]
References
edit
- ^ a b c d e f g Ksepka, D.T.; Field, D.J.; Heath, T.A.; Pett, W.; Thomas, D.B.; Giovanardi, S.; Tennyson, A.J.D. (2023). "Largest-known fossil penguin provides insight into the early evolution of sphenisciform body size and flipper anatomy". Journal of Paleontology. 97 (2): 434–453. Bibcode:2023JPal...97..434K. doi:10.1017/jpa.2022.88.
This article incorporates text from this source, which is available under the CC BY 4.0 license.
- ^ a b c Ashworth, J. (2023). The largest ever penguin species has been discovered in New Zealand. Natural History Museum. Retrieved from https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/news/2023/february/largest-ever-penguin-species-discovered-new-zealand.html
- ^ a b Collins, S. (2023). The largest penguin that ever lived. University of Cambridge. Retrieved from https://www.cam.ac.uk/stories/giant-penguin
