''Icadyptes'' is an extinct
genus
Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...
of
giant penguins from the
Late Eocene tropics of
South America
South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the sout ...
.
Etymology
The genus name is a combination of "''Ica''" for the
Peruvian region where the
type species
In zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the species that contains the biological type specime ...
was found and "dyptes" from the Greek word for diver. The species
epithet "salasi" refers to
Rodolfo Salas Gismondi, a noted Peruvian paleontologist.
Description
Standing about tall, the penguin was much larger than any of its modern-day cousins, yet ''Icadyptes salasi'' is merely the third largest penguin ever described. It had an exceptionally long spear-like beak resembling that of a
heron. The researchers who discovered the penguins believe the long, pointed beaks to be the likely ancestral shape for all penguins.
Discovery
The fossilised remains of the penguin, which lived approximately 36 million years ago, were found in the
Otuma Formation,
[''Icadyptes'']
at Fossilworks.org in the coastal desert of
Peru
, image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg
, image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg
, other_symbol = Great Seal of the State
, other_symbol_type = National seal
, national_motto = "Firm and Happy f ...
by the team of
North Carolina State University palaeontologist Dr. Julia Clarke, assistant professor of marine, earth and atmospheric sciences. Its well-preserved
Fossil
A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved ...
skeleton was found on the southern coast of Peru together with an early Eocene species ''
Perudyptes devriesi'' (comparable in size to the living
King penguin
The king penguin (''Aptenodytes patagonicus'') is the second largest species of penguin, smaller, but somewhat similar in appearance to the emperor penguin. There are two subspecies: ''A. p. patagonicus'' and ''A. p. halli''; ''patagonicus'' ...
), and the remains of three other previously undescribed penguin species, all of which seem to have preferred the tropics over colder latitudes.
Evolution
''Icadyptes salasi'' and ''Perudyptes devriesi'' appear to have flourished at warmer latitudes at a time when world temperatures were at their warmest over the past 65 million years. Only a few modern-day penguins, such as the
African and
Galapagos penguins prefer such a balmy climate.
The discovery of the fossils has caused a re-evaluation of penguin evolution and expansion. Previously, scientists believed that penguins evolved near the poles in Antarctica and New Zealand, and moved closer to the equator around 10 million years ago. Since ''Icadyptes salasi'' lived in Peru during a period of great warmth, penguins must have adapted to warm climates around 30 million years earlier than previously believed.
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q135313
Sphenisciformes
Extinct penguins
Eocene birds of South America
Tinguirirican
Divisaderan
Paleogene Peru
Fossils of Peru
Fossil taxa described in 2007