Archaeospheniscus lopdelli

Archaeospheniscus lopdelli was the largest species of the extinct penguin genus Archaeospheniscus, standing about 90–120 cm (35–47 in) high, or somewhat less than the extant emperor penguin. It is only known from bones of a single individual which was found in the Late Oligocene Kokoamu Greensand Formation at Duntroon, New Zealand. Bones apparently belonging to this species are now also known from the Late Eocene La Meseta Formation on Seymour Island, Antarctica.

No picture of Archaeospheniscus lopdelli was found. Wikipedia, Wikidata and iDigBio were searched and had none. Smithsonian Open Access did not answer, so this is what the others held rather than everything there is. GBIF was asked, and what came back is not recorded: nothing, or a picture this site could not tie to Archaeospheniscus lopdelli, or no answer at all. This entry cannot say which.

On record

Recorded, not inferred
Sits inside
ArchaeospheniscusPBDB
Diet
carnivorePBDB, for Coelurosauria
Life habit
ground dwelling, solitaryPBDB, for Theropoda
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Theropoda
Environment
marinePBDB, for Sphenisciformes

Time the record covers

At most 2.1 million years on record.

The one occurrence read is dated to somewhere between 27.3 Mya and 25.2 Mya, which is a dating window rather than a span.

Oligocene — about 1 of 1 occurrenceOligocene27–27 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences27–27 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences27–27 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences27–27 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences27–27 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences27–27 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences27–27 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences27–27 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences27–26 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences26–26 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences26–26 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences26–26 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences26–26 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences26–26 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences26–26 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences26–26 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences26–26 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences26–26 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences26–25 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences25–25 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences25–25 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences25–25 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences27.8 Mya24.7 Mya

1 occurrence of Archaeospheniscus lopdelli on record, most of them in the Oligocene. Bar height is expected occurrences, not a count: each fossil is spread across the span it is dated to, so a tall narrow bar means tight dating and a low wide one means loose.

When

1 occurrences

These are dates about fossils, not the animal: the record can only begin after it arose and end before it died out, so either end may reach further. Shares are expected occurrences: a fossil dated to a span is counted partly in each period it straddles. More on what this infers.

Found in

1 formation

Kokoamu Greensand — 44.87°S, 170.71°E

Loading coastlines…

The named rock units Archaeospheniscus lopdelli has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed.

Archaeospheniscus lopdelli and its relatives

Oligocene

Where Archaeospheniscus lopdelli and its relatives were recorded in the Oligocene.

Found in the same rock

10 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 1 site for Archaeospheniscus lopdelli, and this reads all of them. The number is how many of those sites it was catalogued from too.

This is not a list of everything alive at the time. It is only what has come out of the same ground as this animal and been written down.

Entered from

1 reference

Each of the 1 occurrence read was entered from one of these publications, ordered by how many each accounts for. This is not a search for papers mentioning the name. Each entry links to the Paleobiology Database's own record for the work.

Media and terms

Media content0

No picture of Archaeospheniscus lopdelli was found. Wikipedia, Wikidata and iDigBio were searched and had none.

Smithsonian Open Access did not answer, so this is what the others held rather than everything there is.

GBIF was asked, and what came back is not recorded: nothing, or a picture this site could not tie to Archaeospheniscus lopdelli, or no answer at all. This entry cannot say which.

No 3D scan of Archaeospheniscus lopdelli was found in Sketchfab.

Smithsonian Open Access and MorphoSource were not reached for this taxon, so this list is what the others held rather than everything there is.

The description on this site

Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0

This is what the site found, which is not the same as what exists.

Keep going

What may have been alongside itArchaeospheniscus through timeFormations of the OligoceneThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Marples 1952