New data on morphology of late Eocene penguins and implications for their geographic distribution

摘要

Penguins (Aves: Sphenisciformes) are icons of Antarctic wildlife. Nevertheless, they are not restricted to this part of the Southern Hemisphere, and most species occur in more northerly areas (Davis & Renner 2003). The longest latitudinal range (across nearly 758 latitude) of penguin rookeries comprises coastal West Antarctica, the Scotia Arc and the Pacific coast of South America (Jadwiszczak 2009, fig. 3). Taking into account plate tectonics, a distributional pattern similar to that present in extant Sphenisciformes can be observed in the record of Eocene (55.8–33.9 Ma) penguins. Their remains are known from as far south as the Antarctic Peninsula (mainly isolated bones) and as far north as Peru (Jadwiszczak 2009, Clarke et al. 2010).