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Comparative osteology of plotopterids and early penguins (1 Viewer)

albertonykus

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Mayr, G., J.L. Goedert, V.L. De Pietri, and R.P. Scofield (2020)
Comparative osteology of the penguin‐like mid‐Cenozoic Plotopteridae and the earliest true fossil penguins, with comments on the origins of wing‐propelled diving
Journal of Zoological Systematics and Evolutionary Research (advance online publication)
doi: 10.1111/jzs.12400

We compared the osteology of the late Eocene to early Miocene penguin‐like Plotopteridae from the North Pacific Basin with that of Paleocene stem group representatives of the Sphenisciformes and identified previously unrecognized similarities and differences. New data on the osteology of plotopterids, like the shape of the caudal end of the mandible, support a position of plotopterids outside the Suloidea, the clade formed by Sulidae, Phalacrocoracidae, and Anhingidae. However, as assumed by previous authors, the diving adaptations of plotopterids and sphenisciforms are likely to have evolved independently, and the resemblances in different parts of the postcranial skeleton therefore constitute one of the more striking examples of parallelism among tetrapods. We note that close relatives of both plotopterids and penguins forage by plunge diving. Whereas underwater locomotion of diving birds with a swimming ancestor is usually driven by the feet, we hypothesize that plotopterids and other wing‐propelled divers are more likely to have had volant ancestors that initiated diving by shallow plunges into the sea.
 
Tonsalinae I

SYSTEMATIC PALEONTOLOGY

Ordo Pelecaniformes Sharpe, 1891
Subordo Incertae Sedis
Familia Plotopteridae Howard, 1969
Subfamilia Tonsalinae G. Mayr et Goedert, 2018
Genus Tonsala Olson, 1980
Typespecies by original designation Tonsala hildegardae Olson, 1980.

Tonsala hildegardae Olson, 1980
Holotype: USNM 256518 partly articulated skeleton. Refered material: SMF Av 645 partly skeleton including pelvis, a caudal vertebra, left femur, left tibiotarsus withoutdistal end and right tarsometatarsus.
Age: Late Oligocene of Washington State, Olympic Peninsula, Southside of the Strait of Juan de Fuca.

Tonsala cf. hildegardae G. Mayr et Goedert, 2016
Material: SMF Av613 part of a pelvis
Age: Late Eocene or Early Oligocene (Jansen Creek Member van de Makah Formation), Washington State

Tonsala buchanani Dyke, Wang et Habib, 2011
Holotype: UWBM 86875 inpression of a partly skeleton from the distal ends of both femora, proximal articular surface left tibiotarsus, three thorax vertebrae (one with associated costae) with intact transverse processes, caudal end sternum, right fibula, proximal end right tarsometatarsus and some broken costa elements with the costal processes intact.
Referred material: UWBM 86870, left tarsometatarsus lacking trochlea for metatarsal IV; UWBM
86871, partial skeleton comprising complete right femur (glued together in the UWBM collection back-to-front), complete right humerus, distal end of left humerus, proximal articulation of left radius, cranial end of left coracoid (broken at the level of the sternocoracoid impression) and some broken pieces of ribs; UWBM 86869, partial skeleton comprising the posterior portion of a left mandible (including the retroarticular process), distal end of right humerus, right carpometacarpus (lacking distal end of os metacarpale minus), cranial portion of left coracoid, part of one pterygoid, and one incomplete cervical vertebra.
Age: The holotype (UWBM 86875) was collected from the same area as the holotype of T. hildegardae [4]: Pysht Formation outcrop to the west of Murdock Creek, on the Olympic Peninsula of Washington State. UWBM 86870 (Figure 1) was collected from the Lower Oligocene portion of the Makah Formation, southeast of Jansen Creek while UWBM 86871 was collected southeast of Bullman Creek (Makah Formation). UWBM 86869 also comes from the mid-portion of the Makah Formation exposed at Whiskey Creek on the Olympic Peninsula.

Tonsala sp. G. Mayr et Goedert, 2016
Material: SMF Av614 right coracoid.
Age Late Eocene or Early Oligocene (Jansen Creek Member of the Makah Formation), Washington State.

Genus Copepteryx Olson et Hasegawa, 1996
Typespecies by original designation Copepteryx hexeris Olson et Hasegawa, 1996

Copepteryx hexeris Olson et Hasegawa, 1996
Holotype: Kitakyûshû Museum of Natural History MNH VP 200.006 partly articulated skeleton, casts in the Tokyo National Science Museum
Age: Late Oligocene (Ainoshima formation, Ashiya Group), Japan.

Copepteryx titan Olson et Hasegawa, 1996
Holotype: KMNH VP 200.004 left femur.
Age: Late Oligocene (Ainoshima formation, Ashiya Group), Japan.

Fred
 
Tonsalinae 2

Genus Hokkaidornis Sakurai, Kimura et Katoh, 2008
Typespecies by original designation Hokkaidornis abashiriensis Sakurai, Kimura et Katoh, 2008

Hokkaidornis abashiriensis Sakurai, Kimura et Katoh, 2008
“Unidentified plotopterid” (Goedert et Cornish, 2002)
Holotype: AMP 44 (originally cataloged at Hokkaido University of Education as HUES-10), partial skeleton, lacking the skull and some parts of the left side, but includes 10 ribs and 10 rib fragments, 5 partial cervical vertebrae, 1 complete and 5 partial thoracic vertebrae, 1 complete and 2 partial caudal vertebrae, partial sternum, proximal parts of the furcula, distal ends of both coracoids, partial right scapula, parts of both humeri, right radiale, proximal right radius, distal end of right ulna, proximal end of right carpometacarpus, pelvis, pygostyle, both femora, both patellae, parts of both tibiotarsi, parts of both fibulae, nearly complete right tarsometatarsus, 2 phalanx fragments.
Age: Late Oligocene (Tokoro Formatie), Japan

Genus Olympidytes G. Mayr et Goedert, 2016
Typespecies by original designation Olympidytes thieli G. Mayr et Goedert, 2016

Olympidytes thieli G. Mayr et Goedert, 2016
Holotype: SMF Av 608 (Fig. 2; partial skeleton including both femora, both tibiotarsi, a tentatively identified fragmentary patella, two caudal vertebrae, the pygostyle, and two sternal ribs.
Age: Late Eocene or Early Oligocene (lower part of the Lincoln Creek Formation), Washington State
Genus Klallamornis G. Mayr et Goedert, 2016
Typespecies by original designation Klallamornis abyssa G. Mayr et Goedert, 2016

Genus Klallamornis G. Mayr et Goedert, 2016
Typespecies by original designation Klallamornis abyssa G. Mayr et Goedert, 2016

Klallamornis abyssa G. Mayr et Goedert, 2016
Holotype: SMF Av 610, partial skeleton, consisting of sternal portion of left coracoid, caudal portion of left scapula, various vertebral and sternal ribs, seven thoracic vertebrae, cranial portion of left ala praeacetabularis ilii, and right femur.
Age: Latest Early or Late Oligocene or Late, but not Latest, Oligocene (lower part of the Pysht Formation), Washington State

?Klallamornis clarki G. Mayr et Goedert, 2016
Holotype: LACM 129405, left tarsometatarsus with restored lateral portion of trochlea metatarsi IV
Age: latest Eocene or early Oligocene (Jansen Creek Member of the Makah Formation), Washington State

Fred
 
Plotopterinae

Subfamilia Plotopterinae Howard, 1969
Genus Phocavis Goedert, 1988
Typespecies by original designation Phocavis maritimus Goedert, 1988

Phocavis maritimus Goedert, 1988
Holotype LACM 123897 right tarsometatarsus.
Age: Laat Eoceen (Keasey Formatie), Oregon

Genus Plotopterum Howard, 1969
Typespecies by original designation Plotopterum joaquinensis Howard, 1969

Plotopterum joaquinensis Howard, 1969
Holotype: Holotype LACM 8927 upper part left coracoid
Age: Early Miocene (Sanstone 150 m. above Walker? Formation), California

Genus Stemec Kaiser, Watanabe et Johns, 2015
Typespecies by monotypy Stemec suntokum Kaiser, Watanabe et Johns, 2015

Stemec suntokum Kaiser, Watanabe et Johns, 2015
Holotype: RBCM.EH2014.032.0001.001, a nearly complete right coracoid, missing only the procoracoid
and small areas of the acrocoracoid. The dorsolateral surface of the shaft has been eroded.
Age: Late Oligocene (Sooke Formation, Carmanah Group), Canada, British Columbia

Fred
 
Literature:

Gareth John Dyke, Xia Wang & Michael B. Habib, 2011
Fossil Plotopterid Seabirds from the Eo-Oligocene of the Olympic Peninsula (Washington State, USA): Descriptions and Functional Morphology
PlosOne 6(10): e25672

James L. Goedert, 1988
A New Late Eocene Species of Plotopteridae (Aves: Pelecaniformes) from Northwestrn Oregon
Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences 45 (6): 97-102

Hildegarde Howard, 1969
A New Avian Fossil from Kern County, California
The Condor 71: 68-69

Gary W. Kaiser, Junya Watanabe & Marji Johns, 2015
A New Member of the Family Plotopteridae (Aves) from the Late Oligocene of British Columbia, Canada
Palaeontologia Electronica 18.352A: 1-18

Gerald Mayr & James L. Goedert, 2016
New Late Eocene and Oligocene Remains of the Flightless, Penguin-like Plotopterids (Aves, Plotopteridae) from Western Wadhington State, U.S.A.
Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 36: e1163573 1-18

Storrs Lovejoy Olson, 1980
A New Genus of Pinguin-like Pelecaniform Bird from the Oligocene of Wasington (Pelecaniformes: Plotopteridae)
Museum of Natural History of Los Angeles County, Contributions in Science 330: 51-57

Storrs Lovejoy Olson & Yoshikazu Hasegawa, 1996
A New Genus and Two New Species of Gigantic Plotopteridae from Japan (Aves: Pelecaniformes)
Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 16: 742-751

Kazuhiko Sakurai, Masaichi Kimura & Takayuki Katoh, 2008
A New Penguin-like Bird (Pelecaniformes: Plotopteridae) from the Late Oligocene Tokoro Formation, Northeastern Hokkaido, Japan
Oryctos 7: 83-94

Fred
 
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