Description of the Earliest Fossil Penguin from South America and First Paleogene Vertebrate Locality of Tierra Del Fuego, Argentina

Abstract

We report the discovery of the first vertebrate from the Paleogene of Tierra del Fuego (Isla Grande), Argentina, in southernmost South America. The specimen consists of parts of an associated pelvic girdle and limb that are identified as belonging to the penguin stem clade (Aves: Pansphenisciformes). The specimen, from an exposure of the Leticia Formation (late middle Eocene), is the earliest known penguin (pansphenisciform) from South America. It is more than 20 million years older than the earliest previously recorded South American penguins (from the late Oligocene-early Miocene) and, thus, almost doubles their known record on the continent.A detailed description of the new specimen and a discussion of its implications for the understanding of penguin morphological evolution are provided. The new specimen and other fossil penguins do not currently point to the origin of extant, or crown clade, penguin lineages (Spheniscidae), by the Eocene, only to the divergence of the penguin stem lineage from its sister taxon by this time. The new fossil has several morphologies that differ from all extant penguins but are shared with other fossil penguin taxa, suggesting they may be outside Spheniscidae. However, in a discussion of the current status of penguin systematics, we suggest the urgent need for comprehensive phylogenetic analysis of fossil and extant penguins to clarify the timing and pattern of penguin diversification.The specimen was recovered from a newly identified fossil vertebrate locality, an exposure of the Eocene Leticia Formation at Punta Torcida on the Atlantic shore of southeastern Tierra del Fuego, Argentina. The new locality is introduced, and a brief geologic description is made,

Redescription and Phylogenetic Position of the Early Miocene Penguin Paraptenodytes Antarcticus from Patagonia

“…In the latter clade, the successive sister groups were Macronectes, Daption, and a clade formed by shearwaters (Procellaria + Puffinus), Pterodroma, and a group composed of an oceanitid clade (Oceanites + Oceanodroma) and a composite clade including the prion Pachyptila and the diving petrel Pelecanoides. In the penguin subtree, Paraptenodytes was the sister of all extant forms, Spheniscidae (sensu Clarke et al, 2003). The topology within Spheniscidae is the same as that recovered by the morphological analysis of Bertelli and Giannini (2005).…”

The Basal Penguin (Aves: Sphenisciformes) Perudyptes devriesi and a Phylogenetic Evaluation of the Penguin Fossil Record

“…TAXONOMIC BACKGROUND Clarke et al (2003) proposed phylogenetic definitions for higher taxa within the penguin total group. Under these definitions, Pansphenisciformes is applied to the clade including all taxa more closely related to Spheniscidae than any other extant avian lineage.…”

Shallow-water late middle Eocene crinoids from Tierra del Fuego: a new southern record of a retrograde community structure

“…is associated with an abundant megafauna, which comprises solitary corals, gastropods, bivalves, rare nautilids, shark teeth (Olivero and Malumián, 1999), penguin bones (Clarke et al, 2003), and in particular wellpreserved specimens of Ophiura elegantoides 350 N. MALUMIÁN and E.B. OLIVERO A t l a n t i c O c e a n (Furque and Camacho, 1949).…”