| Icadyptes | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Icadyptes salasi | |
Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Sphenisciformes |
| Family: | Spheniscidae |
| Genus: | †Icadyptes |
| Species: | †I. salasi |
| Binomial name | |
| †Icadyptes salasi | |
Icadyptes is an extinctgenus ofgiant penguins from theLate Eocene tropics ofSouth America.
The genus name is a combination of "Ica" for thePeruvian region where thetype species was found and "dyptes" from the Greek word for diver. The speciesepithet "salasi" refers toRodolfo Salas Gismondi, a noted Peruvian paleontologist.
Comparing itshumerus length to previously estimated standing height ofAnthropornis (1.66–1.99 metres (5.4–6.5 ft)) andPalaeeudyptes (1.47–1.75 metres (4.8–5.7 ft)), standing height ofIcadyptes is estimated at 1.5 metres (4.9 ft).[1] However, according to original research including data of "standing height" of these two taxa that referred in description are actually showing body length (length between tip of beak and tip of tail, seebird measurement), not standing height.[2] Body length and standing height of penguins are often confused even in scientific reports.[3]
It had an exceptionally long spear-like beak resembling that of aheron. The researchers who discovered the penguins believe the long, pointed beaks to be the likely ancestral shape for all penguins.
The fossilised remains of the penguin, which lived approximately 36 million years ago, were found in theOtuma Formation,[4] in the coastal desert ofPeru by the team ofNorth Carolina State UniversitypalaeontologistDr. Julia Clarke, assistant professor of marine, earth and atmospheric sciences. Its well-preservedFossil skeleton was found on the southern coast of Peru together with an early Eocene speciesPerudyptes devriesi (comparable in size to the livingKing penguin), and the remains of three other previously undescribed penguin species, all of which seem to have preferred the tropics over colder latitudes.
Icadyptes salasi andPerudyptes devriesi appear to have flourished at warmer latitudes at a time when world temperatures were at their warmest over the past 65 million years. Only a few modern-day penguins, such as theAfrican andGalapagos penguins prefer such a balmy climate.
The discovery of the fossils has caused a re-evaluation of penguin evolution and expansion. Previously, scientists believed that penguins evolved near the poles in Antarctica and New Zealand, and moved closer to the equator around 10 million years ago. SinceIcadyptes salasi lived in Peru during a period of great warmth, penguins must have adapted to warm climates around 30 million years earlier than previously believed.[5]
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