''Palaeospheniscus bergi'' is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

of the

extinct Extinction is the termination of a kind of organism or of a group of kinds (taxon), usually a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and ...

penguin Penguins (order (biology), order List of Sphenisciformes by population, Sphenisciformes , family (biology), family Spheniscidae ) are a group of Water bird, aquatic flightless birds. They live almost exclusively in the Southern Hemisphere: on ...

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

''Palaeospheniscus''.''Palaeospheniscus bergi''
at

Fossilworks Fossilworks is a portal which provides query, download, and analysis tools to facilitate access to the Paleobiology Database The Paleobiology Database is an online resource for information on the distribution and classification of fossil animals ...

.org It stood about high in life, or somewhat smaller on average than the extant

African penguin The African penguin (''Spheniscus demersus''), also known as Cape penguin or South African penguin, is a species of penguin confined to southern African waters. Like all extant penguins, it is flightless, with a streamlined body and wings stiff ...

Etymology

The species is named for Carlos Berg, a member of the La Plata Museum of Natural Sciences staff at the time when

Moreno Moreno may refer to: Places Argentina *Moreno (Buenos Aires Metro), a station on Line C of the Buenos Aires Metro *Moreno, Buenos Aires, a city in Buenos Aires Province, Argentina * Moreno Department, a depatnent of Santiago del Estero Province, ...

worked there.

Description

Many bones referrable to this species have been recovered from the Early to Middle Miocene Gaiman and

Puerto Madryn Formation Puerto, a Spanish word meaning ''seaport'', may refer to: Places * El Puerto de Santa María, Andalusia, Spain *Puerto, a seaport town in Cagayan de Oro City, Philippines * Puerto Colombia, Colombia * Puerto Cumarebo, Venezuela * Puerto Galera, O ...

s and the El Foyel Group. Known localities are

Trelew Trelew (, from cy, tref "town" and the name of the founder, Lewis Jones) is a city in the eastern part of the Chubut Province of Argentina. Located in Patagonia, the city is the largest and most populous in the low valley of the Chubut River, wi ...

Chubut Province Chubut ( es, Provincia del Chubut, ; cy, Talaith Chubut) is a province in southern Argentina, situated between the 42nd parallel south (the border with Río Negro Province), the 46th parallel south (bordering Santa Cruz Province), the Andes ra ...

and

Puerto San Julián Puerto San Julián, also known historically as Port St. Julian, is a natural harbour in Patagonia in the Santa Cruz Province of Argentina located at . In the days of sailing ships it formed a stopping point, south of Puerto Deseado (''Port Desir ...

in Santa Cruz Province,

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

. Some recent researchers have considered ''

Palaeospheniscus gracilis ''Palaeospheniscus gracilis'' is a species of the extinct penguin genus ''Palaeospheniscus''. It is the smallest species of its genus, with a height of . Average individuals, thus, were about the size of the Galapagos penguin. Description This ...

'' to be a

synonym A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means exactly or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are all ...

for this species.

Taxonomy

Bones of this species were described as no less than 6 "species" (including the correct one) from 3 "genera" by

Florentino Ameghino Florentino Ameghino (born Giovanni Battista Fiorino Giuseppe Ameghino September 19, 1853 – August 6, 1911) was an Argentine naturalist, paleontologist, anthropologist and zoologist, whose fossil discoveries on the Argentine Pampas, especially ...

in a single publication. The synonyms are as follows: *''Palaeospheniscus bergii'' (''lapsus'') Ameghino, 1891 *''Paraspheniscus bergi'' Ameghino, 1905 *''Palaeospheniscus planus'' Ameghino, 1905 *''Palaeospheniscus rothi'' Ameghino, 1905 *''Pseudospheniscus interplanus'' Ameghino, 1905 *''Pseudospheniscus planus'' Ameghino, 1905 *''Pseudospheniscus concavus'' Ameghino, 1905 *''Pseudospheniscus convexus'' Ameghino, 1905 Either ''Pseudospheniscus interplanus'' or ''P. planus'', as well as either ''Pseudospheniscus concavus'' or ''P. convexus'', are a ''lapsus'' too.

Etymology

Description

Taxonomy

References

Further reading