Macronectes tinae lived approximately 3 million years ago (Pliocene period), and belongs to the extant genus Macronectes.
Giant petrels are the largest birds in the family Procellariidae (petrels and shearwaters), identifiable by their heavyset body and beak.
They are represented by two living species: Macronectes giganteus and Macronectes halli.
Both are distributed around the southern hemisphere, ranging from Antarctica to the subtropics.
The newly-identified species, named Macronectes tinae, is the first fossil Macronectes ever reported.
“Giant petrels are very distinctive birds, being the size of small albatrosses, with huge bulbous beaks,” said Dr. Alan Tennyson from the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa and Dr. Rodrigo B. Salvador from the Arctic University of Norway.
“They are famous for their habit of following ships and their outrageous scavenging activities — sometimes getting fully immersed in the carcass of some poor creature, ripping it apart and becoming covered in blood and other goo.”
“While their taste may be questionable to us, they perform a useful role as marine cleaners.”
“We find them endearing birds, with their unique look and distinctive musty smell. In contrast to their brazen behavior fighting over carrion, towards people on land they are timid and wary.”
“Like most kinds of petrels, they spend their lives roaming the oceans.”
“For nesting, they maintain long-term partners, with which they share the duties of raising a single chick each year.”
The only two fossils known of Macronectes tinae were recovered in the coastal deposits of the Tangahoe Formation, South Taranaki, New Zealand.
“They consist of a fragmentary left humerus and a nearly complete skull, which in all likelihood belonged to distinct individuals because the humerus was found about 2 km south of the skull,” the paleontologists said.
In their study, they analyzed the new Macronectes fossils and compared them to the skeletons of…
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