''Palaeoapterodytes ictus'' is an extinct species of penguin from the late Oligocene or early

Miocene The Miocene ( ) is the first epoch (geology), geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and mea ...

of Argentina, the only member of its genus. Its fossil remains, consisting of only of a severely worn

proximal Standard anatomical terms of location are used to unambiguously describe the anatomy of animals, including humans. The terms, typically derived from Latin or Greek roots, describe something in its standard anatomical position. This position pro ...

part of a humerus, were found in the Patagonia Formation. Ameghino named his genus ''Apterodytes'' (meaning "wingless diver", later emended to "ancient wingless diver" as the original name was preoccupied) because he mistakenly believed that this species lacked functional wings (the name is not to be confused with ''

Aptenodytes The genus ''Aptenodytes'' contains two extant species of penguins collectively known as "the great penguins". Etymology The name "Aptenodytes" is a composite of Ancient Greek elements, "ἀ-πτηνο-δύτης" (without-wings-diver). Taxon ...

'', the modern emperor and king penguins). In this he seemingly overlooked the effects of

taphonomy Taphonomy is the study of how organisms decay and become fossilized or preserved in the paleontological record. The term ''taphonomy'' (from Greek , 'burial' and , 'law') was introduced to paleontology in 1940 by Soviet scientist Ivan Efremov t ...

, and I will simply relay the summation of Lambrecht (1933), as translated from German by Simpson (1972): :"Ameghino believed that the humerus of this form was atrophied in such a way that only the proximal half remained, the distal part of the bone being wholly lost. If this were the case,... it would be one of the most interesting examples of extreme reversion of the capacity of flight, especially as the presumed atrophy affected only the distal part of the humerus while the proximal continued to be rather strongly developed. According to the illustration, the humerus seems merely to be weathered and the distal half simply broken off." Simpson (1972) concluded that the meagre remnant assigned to this genus was unidentifiable (though, contrary to Brodkorb (1963), it was evidently not a junior synonym of ''

Palaeospheniscus ''Palaeospheniscus'' is an extinct genus of penguins belonging to the subfamily Palaeospheniscinae. These penguins are apparently not closely related to the modern genus ''Spheniscus''. Description The species of ''Palaeospheniscus'' were mediu ...

''), and left ''Palaeoapterodytes'' to sink into ''nomen dubium'' status.

References

* Simpson, G. G. 1972. Conspectus of Patagonian fossil penguins. ''American Museum Novitates'' 2488: 1–37.

External links

Palaeos.org
{{Taxonbar, from=Q7126390 Spheniscidae Prehistoric bird genera Nomina dubia