Waimanu

Live reconstruction

• New Zealand Waipara

Waimanu is an extinct genus of the order of the Penguins ( Sphenisciformes ). The genus name is derived from the Maori 's language and means water bird. She is known by the finds nearly complete fossil skeletons, which are attributed to two types. The type species is Waimanu manneringi to Al Mannering, the finder of the holotype, named and was found in approximately 61 million year old rock formations. The slightly smaller type Waimanu tuatahi is about 58 million years old. The specific epithet comes from the Maori and means " the first ", indicating that the holotype of the type of first Waimanu fund was.

Features

Waimanu were stocky birds with strong bones and short, flattened wings that are good but not suitable for fly for swimming. The beak was elongated and narrow. Waimanu manneringi reached a length of about 100 centimeters, Waimanu tuatahi about 80 centimeters. Using various skeletal features Waimanu can be classified as a species at the base of Sphenisciformes.

Swell

• Kerryn E. Slack, Craig M. Jones, Tatsuro Ando, ​​GL ( Abby ) Harrison, R. Ewan Fordyce, Ulfur Arnason, David Penny: Early Penguin Fossils, Plus Mitochondrial Genomes, Calibrate Avian Evolution. In: Molecular Biology and Evolution. 23, No. 6, 2006, pp. 1144-1155 (full text).