Waimanu

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Waimanu
Live reconstruction

Live reconstruction

Temporal occurrence
Paleocene
61 to 58 million years
Locations
Systematics
Birds (aves)
Penguins (Sphenisciformes)
incertae sedis
Waimanu
Scientific name
Waimanu
Slack , Jones , Ando , Harrison , Fordyce , Arnason & Penny , 2006

Waimanu is an extinct genus from the order of the penguins (Sphenisciformes). The generic name is derived from the Maori language and means water bird. It is known from the finds of almost complete fossil skeletons, which can be assigned to two types. The type species Waimanu manneringi is named after Al Mannering, who found the holotype , and was found in rock layers that are around 61 million years old. The somewhat smaller species Waimanu tuatahi is around 58 million years old. The specific epithet comes from the Maori and means "the first", which indicates that the holotype of the species was the first Waimanu find.

features

Waimanu were stocky birds with strong bones and short, flattened wings that were good for swimming but not for flying. The beak was elongated and narrow. Waimanu manneringi reached a length of about 100 centimeters, Waimanu tuatahi about 80 centimeters. Using various skeletal features , Waimanu can be classified as a genus at the base of the Sphenisciformes.

swell

  • Kerryn E. Slack, Craig M. Jones, Tatsuro Ando, ​​GL (Abby) Harrison, R. Ewan Fordyce, Ulfur Arnason, David Penny: Early Penguin Fossils, Plus Mitochondrial Genomes, Calibrate Avian Evolution . In: Molecular Biology and Evolution . tape 23 , no. 6 , 2006, p. 1144–1155 (English, full text ).

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