Sphenisciformes

Penguins are a group of flightless semi-aquatic sea birds which live almost exclusively in the Southern Hemisphere. Only one species, the Galapagos penguin, lives at, and slightly north of, the equator. Highly adapted for life in the ocean water, penguins have countershaded dark and white plumage and flippers for swimming. Most penguins feed on krill, fish, squid and other forms of sea life which they catch with their bills and swallow whole while swimming. A penguin has a spiny tongue and powerful jaws to grip slippery prey.

Sphenisciformes

Godot13 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · via Wikipedia/Commons. May be a photograph of a specimen, or an artist’s reconstruction — an interpretation of a skeleton, since colour and soft tissue are almost never preserved.

On record

Recorded, not inferred
Also called
penguinPBDB
Sits inside
ProcellariimorphaePBDB
Diet
carnivorePBDB, for Coelurosauria
Life habit
ground dwelling, solitaryPBDB, for Theropoda
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Theropoda
Environment
marinePBDB

Time the record covers

At least 59 million years on record.

The record covers at least 59.24 Mya to 11.7 ka. No occurrence read is dated outside 66 Mya to 0 Mya.

Late Cretaceous — about 0 of 317 occurrencesPaleocene — about 19 of 317 occurrencesPaleoceneEocene — about 93 of 317 occurrencesEoceneOligocene — about 31 of 317 occurrencesOligoceneMiocene — about 90 of 317 occurrencesMiocenePliocene — about 21 of 317 occurrencesPleistocene — about 19 of 317 occurrences67–65 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences65–63 Mya — about 0.7 occurrences63–61 Mya — about 3 occurrences61–58 Mya — about 6 occurrences58–56 Mya — about 9 occurrences56–54 Mya — about 1 occurrence54–52 Mya — about 1.0 occurrences52–49 Mya — about 1.0 occurrences49–47 Mya — about 1 occurrence47–45 Mya — about 2 occurrences45–43 Mya — about 2 occurrences43–40 Mya — about 6 occurrences40–38 Mya — about 17 occurrences38–36 Mya — about 32 occurrences36–34 Mya — about 30 occurrences34–31 Mya — about 2 occurrences31–29 Mya — about 2 occurrences29–27 Mya — about 5 occurrences27–25 Mya — about 17 occurrences25–22 Mya — about 9 occurrences22–20 Mya — about 12 occurrences20–18 Mya — about 17 occurrences18–16 Mya — about 15 occurrences16–13 Mya — about 0.9 occurrences13–11 Mya — about 3 occurrences11–9.0 Mya — about 10 occurrences9.0–6.7 Mya — about 14 occurrences6.7–4.5 Mya — about 22 occurrences4.5–2.2 Mya — about 17 occurrences2.2–0 Mya — about 61 occurrences59.24 Mya11.7 ka67 Mya0 Mya

317 occurrences of Sphenisciformes on record, most of them in the Eocene. The Paleobiology Database records this as a living group. 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

317 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

52 formations

La Meseta — 64.25°S, 56.72°WLa Meseta — 64.24°S, 56.65°WLa Meseta — 64.24°S, 56.65°WSubmeseta — 64.25°S, 56.62°WGaiman — 43.30°S, 65.42°WGaiman — 43.28°S, 65.48°WGaiman — 43.33°S, 65.32°WGaiman — 43.44°S, 65.10°WVarswater — 32.98°S, 18.15°EVarswater — 33.67°S, 18.43°EVarswater — 33.00°S, 18.00°EKokoamu Greensand — 44.87°S, 170.71°EKokoamu Greensand — 44.68°S, 170.49°EKokoamu Greensand — 44.92°S, 170.62°EKokoamu Greensand — 44.78°S, 170.95°EKokoamu Greensand — 44.85°S, 170.62°EPisco — 15.58°S, 74.72°WPisco — 15.44°S, 74.87°WPisco — 14.56°S, 75.67°WPisco — 15.50°S, 74.80°WPisco — 15.55°S, 74.80°WPisco — 15.06°S, 74.08°WBahía Inglesa — 27.08°S, 70.84°WBahía Inglesa — 27.14°S, 70.88°WBahía Inglesa — 27.15°S, 70.88°WBahía Inglesa — 27.72°S, 70.99°WWaipara Greensand — 43.07°S, 172.60°EWaipara Greensand — 43.03°S, 172.53°EHillgrove — 45.13°S, 170.97°EMonte Leon — 49.53°S, 68.36°WMoeraki — 45.32°S, 170.82°EBlack Rock Sandstone — 37.99°S, 145.04°EBlack Rock Sandstone — 37.98°S, 145.05°EHorcón — 32.70°S, 71.46°WBurnside — 44.49°S, 170.68°ETangahoe — 39.58°S, 174.28°ETangahoe — 39.59°S, 174.20°EBlanche Point — 30.13°S, 138.47°EBlanche Point — 32.69°S, 137.75°EOtuma — 14.62°S, 75.62°WOtuma — 13.87°S, 76.27°WOtuma — 14.45°S, 75.93°WOtekaike Limestone — 44.86°S, 170.62°EOtekaike Limestone — 44.66°S, 170.65°EPatagonian — 46.21°S, 67.58°WGreta Siltstone — 42.97°S, 173.09°ECoquimbo — 29.07°S, 71.49°WCoquimbo — 29.97°S, 71.30°WOtotara Limestone — 45.19°S, 170.88°EOtotara Limestone — 45.19°S, 170.97°EConcord — 44.49°S, 170.68°EPuerto Madryn — 42.42°S, 64.27°WPuerto Madryn — 42.77°S, 65.10°W

Loading coastlines…

The named rock units Sphenisciformes has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 28 further formations hold fewer occurrences each and are not listed. 66 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Sphenisciformes and its relatives

Eocene

Where Sphenisciformes and its relatives were recorded in the Eocene.

Found in the same rock

1,254 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 173 sites for Sphenisciformes, and this reads all of them. The number is how many of those sites it was catalogued from too. The 24 sharing the most are listed.

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

130 references

Each of the 317 occurrences 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. 118 further references are not listed. Entries link to doi.org where the Paleobiology Database holds an identifier, and to its own record where it does not. Relayed as the Paleobiology Database holds them, not checked against what they resolve to.

Media and terms

Media content1

Picture of Sphenisciformes

Credit
Godot13
Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0
Commercial use
the licence allows it

No 3D scan of Sphenisciformes 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 itProcellariimorphae through timeFormations of the EoceneThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. (Sharpe 1891)