Enigmatic morphological disparity in tarsometatarsi of giant penguins from the Eocene of Antarctica

The only record of the Paleogene Antarctic Sphenisciformes comes from the Eocene La Meseta Formation (Seymour Island, Antarctic Peninsula). The analysis of tarso− metatarsi attributed to the genus Anthropornis (“giant” penguins) from the Argentine, Pol− ish and Swedish collections revealed an intrig...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Polish Polar Research
Main Authors: Acosta Hospitaleche, Carolina Ileana Alicia, Jadwiszczak, Piotr
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Polish Acad Sciences Committee Polar Research
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Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/11336/104983
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Summary:The only record of the Paleogene Antarctic Sphenisciformes comes from the Eocene La Meseta Formation (Seymour Island, Antarctic Peninsula). The analysis of tarso− metatarsi attributed to the genus Anthropornis (“giant” penguins) from the Argentine, Pol− ish and Swedish collections revealed an intriguing heterogeneity within these taxonomi− cally important elements of the skeleton. The unique hypotarsal morphology challenges the current systematics of large−bodied penguins and sheds new light on their evolution. Fil: Acosta Hospitaleche, Carolina Ileana Alicia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo. División Paleontología Vertebrados; Argentina Fil: Jadwiszczak, Piotr. Uniwersytet w Białymstoku; Polonia