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Eudyptes atatu
Taxonomy
Eudyptes atatu was named by Thomas et al. (2020). Its type specimen is NMNZ S.046318, a partial skeleton (cranium, mandible, seven vertebrae, sternum, left coracoid, right coracoid, right humerus, right scapula, right ulna, right radius), and it is a 3D body fossil. Its type locality is Q21/f0002, nearby, which is in a Waipipian marine horizon in the Tangahoe Formation of New Zealand.
Synonymy list
| Year | Name and author |
|---|---|
| 2020 | Eudyptes atatu Thomas et al. p. 2 |
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If no rank is listed, the taxon is considered an unranked clade in modern classifications. Ranks may be repeated or presented in the wrong order because authors working on different parts of the classification may disagree about how to rank taxa.
†Eudyptes atatu Thomas et al. 2020
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Diagnosis
| Reference | Diagnosis | |
|---|---|---|
| D. B. Thomas et al. 2020 | Referred to Eudyptes based on (1) strong sigmoid curvature of jugal bar, (2) presence of shelf of bone bounding the salt gland fossa, (3) greatly deepened temporal fossae, (4) strongly shortened tarsometatarsus (ratio of length to proximal width less than 2.0) and (5) moderately deep sulcus between metatarsals II and III. Characters 1, 2 and 4 also occur within Pygoscelis, which differs from Eudyptes in exhibiting very weakly developed temporal fossae, partial or complete fusion of the ilia to the synsacrum, and a shallow sulcus between metatarsals II and III. Characters 1, 3, 4 and 5 also occur in Megadyptes, which differs from Eudyptes in having a less strongly curved jugal bar and a very deep depression for insertion of the iliotrochanteris muscle near the proximal margin of the trochanteric crest of the femur. Differentiated from all extant and recently extinct species of Eudyptes by (1) upper beak slender in dorsal view (versus rostral tip mark- edly swollen in extant Eudyptes) and (2) mandibular ramus modestly deepened at midpoint (versus strongly deepened in extant Eudyptes). Eudyptes atatu can be differentiated from the poorly known Eudyptes calauina (for which the skull remains unknown) by much smaller size (tarsometatarsus length 29.1 mm in E. atatu versus 41.3 mm in E. calauina holotype) and less robust tarsometatarsus (ratio of length to proximal width 1.9 in E. atatu versus 1.7 in E. calauina). |
Measurements
No measurements are available
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| Source: subo = suborder, o = order | |||||
| References: Bush and Bambach 2015, Marsh 1875, Benton 1983 | |||||