Eudyptula wilsonae is the smallest extinct crown penguin yet known and is a possible ancestor of the kororā or New Zealand little penguin (Eudyptula minor minor), which is endemic to New Zealand and is the smallest living penguin species.
“Aotearoa New Zealand is home to three of the six living penguin genera, including the little penguins (genus Eudyptula),” said Dr. Daniel Thomas from Massey University and his colleagues from the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa and Bruce Museum.
“Little penguins occur across southern Australia and the New Zealand archipelago.”
“They are remarkable for being among the smallest obligate marine endotherms yet having breeding colonies distributed across the broadest range of mean annual sea-surface temperatures observed in penguins.”
“Their biogeographic origins and morphological evolution are therefore of great interest.”
The newly-described species is an extinct member of the little penguin lineage and is the smallest extinct crown penguin yet known.
Named Eudyptula wilsonae, or the Wilson’s little penguin, it lived during the Late Pliocene between 3.4 and 3 million years ago.
The two specimens — the nearly complete skulls of an adult and a fledged but immature individual — of the new species were found in the Tangahoe Formation, exposed in the southern Taranaki region of the North Island of New Zealand.
The fossils reveal that the physical characteristics of little penguins have remained largely unchanged across 3 million years, despite substantial environmental changes in the region across that time.
“Our work helps to illustrate ancient penguin origins and provides significant evolutionary links between living animals and their Zealandia ancestors,” Dr. Thomas said.
“These newly discovered fossils show little penguins like kororā have been part of coastal ecosystems of Zealandia for at least 3 million years.”
“This is important when thinking about the origins of these penguins,…
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