Everything about Palaeeudyptinae totally explained
» For the supposed "giant penguin" reported from Florida around 1948, see Giant penguin hoax.
The
New Zealand Giant Penguins,
Palaeeudyptinae, are an
extinct subfamily of
penguins. It includes several
genera of medium-sized to very large species - including
Palaeeudyptes marplesi and
Anthropornis nordenskjoeldi which grew tall or even larger, and the massive
Pachydyptes ponderosus which weighed at least as much as an adult
human male.
They belonged to an
evolutionary lineage more primitive than modern penguins. In some taxa at least, the wing, while already having lost the
avian feathering, hadn't yet transformed into the semi-rigid flipper found in modern penguin species: While the
ulna and the
radius were already flattened to increase propelling capacity, the
elbow and
wrist joints still retained a higher degree of flexibility than the more rigidly lockable structure found in modern genera. The decline and eventual disappearance of this subfamily seems to be connected by increased competition as
mammal groups such as
cetaceans and
pinnipeds became better-adapted to a marine lifestyle in the
Oligocene and
Miocene.
The members of this subfamily are known from fossils found in
New Zealand,
Antarctica, and possibly
Australia, dating from the Middle or Late
Eocene to the Late
Oligocene; the Australian Middle
Miocene genus
Anthropodyptes is also often assigned to this subfamily, as are the remaining genera of primitive penguins except those from
Patagonia. Indeed, it was long assumed that all prehistoric penguins which can't be assigned to extant genera belonged into the Palaeeudyptinae; this view is generally considered obsolete today. It is likely that some of the unassigned New Zealand/Antarctican/Australian genera like
Delphinornis,
Marambiornis, and
Mesetaornis do indeed belong into this subfamily, but it's just as probable that others, such as
Duntroonornis and
Korora, represent another, smaller and possibly somewhat more advanced lineage.
The Palaeeudyptinae as originally defined (Simpson, 1946) contained only the namesake genus, the remainder being placed in the Anthropornithidae. The arrangement followed here's based on the review of Marples (1962) who
synonymized the two, with updates to incorporate more current findings.
Further Information
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