Pachydyptes
| Pachydyptes Temporal range: Late Eocene 37β34Ma | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Sphenisciformes |
| Family: | Spheniscidae |
| Subfamily: | Palaeeudyptinae |
| Genus: | Pachydyptes Oliver, 1930 |
| Species: | P. ponderosus |
| Binomial name | |
| Pachydyptes ponderosus Oliver, 1930 | |
| Synonyms | |
Pachydyptes is an extinct genus of penguin. It contains the single species Pachydyptes ponderosus, the New Zealand giant penguin. This taxon is known from a few bones from Late Eocene (37 to 34 MYA) rocks in the area of Otago.
With a height of 140 to 160 cm (about 5 ft) and weighing around 80 to possibly over 100 kg, it was the second-tallest penguin ever, surpassed only by Anthropornis nordenskjoeldi in height, but probably not in weight.
Pachydyptes was slightly larger than Icadyptes salasi, the best-identified of the giant penguins.
References
- Oliver, Walter R. B. (1930). [Genus Pachydyptes]. In: New Zealand birds, 85-86. Wellington: Fine Arts.
External links
- Wikinews: Students find fossilised giant penguin
- Geocities Geocities NatureLand 5218: Information and good reconstruction (Japanese)