Perudyptes

About: Perudyptes is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 4 publications have been published within this topic receiving 201 citations.

Paleogene equatorial penguins challenge the proposed relationship between biogeography, diversity, and Cenozoic climate change

Abstract: New penguin fossils from the Eocene of Peru force a reevaluation of previous hypotheses regarding the causal role of climate change in penguin evolution. Repeatedly it has been proposed that penguins originated in high southern latitudes and arrived at equatorial regions relatively recently (e.g., 4–8 million years ago), well after the onset of latest Eocene/Oligocene global cooling and increases in polar ice volume. By contrast, new discoveries from the middle and late Eocene of Peru reveal that penguins invaded low latitudes >30 million years earlier than prior data suggested, during one of the warmest intervals of the Cenozoic. A diverse fauna includes two new species, here reported from two of the best exemplars of Paleogene penguins yet recovered. The most comprehensive phylogenetic analysis of Sphenisciformes to date, combining morphological and molecular data, places the new species outside the extant penguin radiation (crown clade: Spheniscidae) and supports two separate dispersals to equatorial (paleolatitude ≈14°S) regions during greenhouse earth conditions. One new species, Perudyptes devriesi, is among the deepest divergences within Sphenisciformes. The second, Icadyptes salasi, is the most complete giant (>1.5 m standing height) penguin yet described. Both species provide critical information on early penguin cranial osteology, trends in penguin body size, and the evolution of the penguin flipper.

The Basal Penguin (Aves: Sphenisciformes) Perudyptes devriesi and a Phylogenetic Evaluation of the Penguin Fossil Record

Abstract: We present the first detailed description of Perudyptes devriesi, a basal penguin from the middle Eocene (~42 Ma) Paracas Formation of Peru, and a new analysis of all published extinct penguin species as well as controversial fragmentary specimens. The Perudyptes devriesi holotype includes key regions of the skull and significant postcranial material, thus helping to fill a major phylogenetic and stratigraphic (~20 million year) gap between the earliest fossil penguins (Waimanu manneringi and Waimanu tuatahi, ~58–61.6 Ma) and the next oldest partial skeletons. Perudyptes devriesi is diagnosable by five autapomorphies: (1) an anteroventrally directed postorbital process, (2) marked anterior expansion of the parasphenoid rostrum, (3) posterior trochlear ridge of the humerus projecting distal to the middle trochlear ridge and conformed as a large, broadly curved surface, (4) convex articular surface for the antitrochanter of the femur, and (5) extremely weak anterior projection of the lateral condyl...

Short Note New data on morphology of late Eocene penguins and implications for their geographic distribution

Abstract: Penguins (Aves: Sphenisciformes) are icons of Antarctic wildlife. Nevertheless, they are not restricted to this part of the Southern Hemisphere, and most species occur in more northerly areas (Davis & Renner 2003). The longest latitudinal range (across nearly 758 latitude) of penguin rookeries comprises coastal West Antarctica, the Scotia Arc and the Pacific coast of South America (Jadwiszczak 2009, fig. 3). Taking into account plate tectonics, a distributional pattern similar to that present in extant Sphenisciformes can be observed in the record of Eocene (55.8–33.9 Ma) penguins. Their remains are known from as far south as the Antarctic Peninsula (mainly isolated bones) and as far north as Peru (Jadwiszczak 2009, Clarke et al. 2010). The most diverse assemblage of these seabirds comes from the Eocene La Meseta Formation of Isla Marambio (Seymour Island; northern Antarctic Peninsula), particularly from its upper part corresponding to the late middle and late Eocene (Jadwiszczak 2010, fig. 2). Individuals from four species (two genera differing in morphology and frequency), Anthropornis nordenskjoeldi Wiman, 1905, A. grandis (Wiman, 1905), Palaeeudyptes gunnari (Wiman, 1905), P. klekowskii Myrcha, Tatur & del Valle, 1990, were larger than the largest modern penguins (Aptenodytes forsteri Gray; Jadwiszczak 2001). The record of Eocene penguins from South America comprises a partial skeleton (slightly smaller than that of A. forsteri) from the late middle Eocene of Argentine Tierra del Fuego (Clarke et al. 2003), ten bones of both small-bodied and ‘giant’ birds (undetermined sphenisciforms and Palaeeudyptes sp. respectively) from the middle to late Eocene of the Magallanes Region, Chile (Sallaberry et al. 2010), and partial skeletons of three species from the middle and late Eocene of Peru: a relatively largebodied Perudyptes devriesi Clarke et al., 2007 as well as two ‘giant’ penguins, Icadyptes salasi Clarke et al., 2007 and Inkayacu paracasensis Clarke et al., 2010 (Clarke et al. 2007, 2010). Inkayacu paracasensis, diagnosed mainly on the basis of five ‘‘autapomorphies within Sphenisciformes’’ (i.e. unique features), is of particular interest because its remains include partial feathering (Clarke et al. 2010). Presented here are bones from the late Eocene of the Antarctic Peninsula demonstrating that some of postulated (Clarke et al. 2010) autapomorphies of Inkayacu are actually synapomorphies shared with taxa represented by these Antarctic specimens. This finding substantially expands knowledge of the source region for the second oldest equatorial ingression by Palaeogene penguins. Two Antarctic penguin bones discussed here come from the upper La Meseta Formation (north-north-west side of the unit Telm7; Jadwiszczak 2010, fig. 1), Seymour Island (64817'S, 56845'W). They are permanently deposited at the Institute of Biology, University of Bia"ystok, Poland; abbreviated IB/P/B (Jadwiszczak 2006).

The basal penguin (Aves, Sphenisciformes) Perudyptes devriesi and a phylogenetic evaluation of the penguin fossil record. (Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History, no. 337)

Abstract: 77 p. : ill., map ; 26 cm. "Issued June 3, 2010." Includes bibliographical references (p. 47-53).