Taxonomic revision of Eocene Antarctic penguins based on tarsometatarsal morphology. Polish Polar Research 23

ABSTRACT: Eocene penguin remains from Seymour Island (Antarctica) are so far the old− est−known record of extinct Sphenisciformes. Rich Argentine and Polish collections of pen− guin bones from the La Meseta Formation are taxonomically revised on tarsometatarsal morphology. Two genera and four specie...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Andrzej Myrcha, Piotr Jadwiszczak, Claudia P. Tambussi, Jorge I. Noriega, Andrzej Gaździcki, Andrzej Tatur, Rodolfo A. Del Valle
Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
Format: Text
Language:English
Published: 2002
Subjects:
Antarctic
Argentine
Seymour
Seymour Island
Antarc*
Antarctica
Polish Polar Research
Online Access:http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.625.3030
http://www.polar.pan.pl/ppr23/ppr23-005.pdf
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Summary:ABSTRACT: Eocene penguin remains from Seymour Island (Antarctica) are so far the old− est−known record of extinct Sphenisciformes. Rich Argentine and Polish collections of pen− guin bones from the La Meseta Formation are taxonomically revised on tarsometatarsal morphology. Two genera and four species are erected: Mesetaornis polaris gen. et sp. n., Marambiornis exilis gen. et sp. n., Delphinornis arctowskii sp. n. and D. gracilis sp. n. Moreover, the diagnoses of already described species: Anthropornis nordenskjoeldi, A. grandis, Palaeeudyptes klekowskii, P. gunnari, Archaeospheniscus wimani and Delphi− nornis larseni are revised as well. Gradual cooling of climate, changes of environment and trophic relationships, that lasted several millions years, were most probably responsible for the intense speciation and taxonomic diversification of the Middle–Late Eocene La Meseta penguins.

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