| Cruschedula Temporal range: | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Pelecaniformes |
| Suborder: | † Cladornithes |
| Family: | † Cladornithidae |
| Genus: | † Cruschedula Ameghino, 1899 [1] |
| Species: | †C. revola |
| Binomial name | |
| †Cruschedula revola Ameghino, 1899 [1] | |
Cruschedula is an enigmatic bird genus considered to be nomen dubium [2] which consists of the single species Cruschedula revola. [3] [4]
The genus was first described by Florentino Ameghino in his 1899 volume Sinopsis geológico-paleontológica. Suplemento. (Adiciones y correcciones.). [4] The name was coined by Ameghino from a combination of the crus meaning "shin" and schedula meaning "a small sheet of paper". [3] The etymology of the specific epithet is not clear, but possibly from the revolare . [3] The genus and species were described from a single partial bone which Ameghino considered to be a tarsometatarsus section. The bone was found in Oligocene (Tinguirirican to Deseadan) beds of the Deseado Formation near San Jorge Gulf in Southern Patagonia. [5] Designated the holotype specimen, it was added to the Bernardino Rivadavia Natural Sciences Museum along with a large portion of Ameghino's fossil collections. [3]
In his paper, Ameghino erected the family Cruschedulidae, however in his 1906 paper "Enumeracion de los Impennes Fosiles de Patagonia y de la Isla Seymour" he synonymized the family into Cladornithidae. When described Ameghino envisioned the genus and the family Cladornithidae as a whole to have represented a group of extinct "dry-land" penguins. [3] This was because the fossil, having been collected from an outcrop of the Deseado Formation, was thought to be similar to other penguin fossils Ameghino attributed to the same formation. [4] The Deseado Formation preserved a terrestrial environment, and thus the presence of penguins was considered highly unusual.
The placement of Cruschedula as a penguin was not challenged until 1946 by eminent paleontologist George Gaylord Simpson. After examining the holotype, Simpson concluded there were no distinguishable details that defined the bone as from a penguin, but did not have any opinion as to what bird group it may have belonged to. [4] The fossil was again restudied in 1964 by Pierce Brodkorb, who asserted the fossil to not be a tarsometatarsus but rather the end of a scapula. In his Catalogue of Fossil Birds Brodkorb placed the genus into the diurnal bird of prey family Accipitridae. [3] This placement was followed by Simpson in his 1972 Conspectus of Patagonian fossil penguins However, the placement was rejected by Eduardo P. Tonni in his 1980 paper The present state of knowledge of the Cenozoic birds of Argentina where he considered the bone fragment upon which the genus was erected to be undiagnostic. This assessment was supported by Storrs L. Olson in 1985, who quoted Tonni's assessment of the Cruschedula holotype as undiagnostic. [2]
Paraptenodytes is an extinct genus of penguins which contains two or three species sized between a Magellanic penguin and an emperor penguin. They are known from fossil bones ranging from a partial skeleton and some additional material in the case of P. antarcticus, the type specimen for the genus, and a single humerus in the case of P. brodkorbi. The latter species is therefore often considered invalid; a recent study considers it indeed valid, but distinct enough not to belong into Paraptenodytes. The fossils were found in the Santa Cruz and Chubut Provinces of Patagonia, Argentina, in the Gaiman, Monte León and Santa Cruz Formations of Early to Middle Miocene age. Later occurrences are apparently from Late Miocene or possibly even Early Pliocene deposits.
Palaeospheniscus bergi is a species of the extinct penguin genus Palaeospheniscus. It stood about 60 to 75 centimetres high in life, or somewhat smaller on average than the extant African penguin.
Palaeospheniscus gracilis is a species of the extinct penguin genus Palaeospheniscus. It is the smallest species of its genus, with a height of 40 to 60 centimetres. Average individuals, thus, were about the size of the Galapagos penguin.
The extinct penguin Palaeospheniscus wimani is a member of the genus Palaeospheniscus, which belonged to the prehistoric subfamily Palaeospheniscinae. It was the largest member of its genus, being just as large as the Magellanic penguin of today.
Paraptenodytes robustus is a species of the extinct penguin genus Paraptenodytes, which is known from fossils. It was medium-sized, an estimated 70 to 80 centimetres long in life.
Paraptenodytes brodkorbi is a proposed, but possibly invalid, species of extinct penguin in the genus Paraptenodytes. The bird was probably about the size of a king penguin. Known material is limited to a single humerus, Early Miocene in age, found in the Monte León Formation near Puerto San Julián in Santa Cruz Province, Argentina. It exists as an unnumbered specimen in the collection of the Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales.
Palaeoapterodytes ictus is an extinct species of penguin from the late Oligocene or early Miocene of Argentina, the only member of its genus. Its fossil remains, consisting of only of a severely worn proximal part of a humerus, were found in the Patagonia Formation.
Interatherium is an extinct genus of interatheriid notoungulate from the Early to Middle Miocene (Colhuehuapian-Mayoan). Fossils have been found in the Santa Cruz, Collón Curá and Sarmiento Formations in Argentina.
Physornis is an extinct genus of giant flightless predatory birds of the family Phorusrhacidae or "terror birds", most closely related to Paraphysornis, that lived in Argentina. The type species is P. fortis. It lived during the Middle to Late Oligocene (Deseadan). Few fossils are known, but the available material suggests that Physornis was one of the largest phorusrhacids.
Patagornis is a genus of extinct flightless predatory birds of the family Phorusrhacidae. Known as "terror birds", these lived in what is now Argentina during the Early and Middle Miocene; the Santa Cruz Formation in Patagonia contains numerous specimens. Patagornis was an agile, medium sized Patagornithine and was likely a pursuit predator.
Psilopterus is an extinct genus of phorusrhacid from the Middle Oligocene to possibly the Late Pleistocene of Argentina and Uruguay. Compared to other phorusrhacids, members of the genus are both relatively gracile and diminutive, and include the smallest known species of terror bird: with the head raised P. bachmanni was 70–80 centimeters (2.3–2.6 ft) in height and weighed about 5 kilograms (11 lb), while the largest members of the genus were only about 8 kilograms (18 lb). The birds resemble the modern cariama, except with a heavier build and considerably smaller wings. Fossil finds in Uruguay indicate the genus may have survived until 96,040 ± 6,300 years ago, millions of years after the larger phorusrhacids became extinct.
Symptosuchus is an extinct genus of goniopholidid mesoeucrocodylian. It is known from the Late Cretaceous of Argentina. Argentine paleontologist Florentino Ameghino named the genus in 1899, along with the type species S. contortidens. It was formally described by Carlos Rusconi in 1934.
Propalaehoplophorus, also written as Propalaeohoplophorus, is an extinct genus of glyptodont, which lived in South America during the Early Miocene epoch.
Necrolestes is an extinct genus of mammals, which lived during the Early Miocene in what is now Argentine Patagonia. It is the most recent known genus of Meridiolestida, an extinct group of mammals more closely related to therians than to monotremes, which were the dominant mammals in South America during the Late Cretaceous. It contains two species, N. patagonensis and N. mirabilis; the type species N. patagonensis was named by Florentino Ameghino in 1891 based on remains found by his brother, Carlos Ameghino in Patagonia. Fossils of Necrolestes have been found in the Sarmiento and Santa Cruz Formations. Its morphology suggests that it was a digging, subterranean-dwelling mole-like mammal that fed on invertebrates.
Stenotatus is an extinct genus of cingulate, belonging to the family Dasypodidae. It lived from the Early to the Late Miocene in South America.
Proeutatus is an extinct genus of xenarthran, belonging to the order Cingulata. It lived during the Early Miocene, and its fossilized remains were discovered in South America.
Prozaedyus is an extinct genus of chlamyphorid armadillo that lived during the Middle Oligocene and Middle Miocene in what is now South America.
Eucinepeltus is an extinct genus of glyptodont. It lived during the Early Miocene, and its fossilized remains were discovered in South America.
Cochlops is an extinct genus of glyptodont. It lived from the Early to Middle Miocene, and its fossilized remains have been found in South America.
Perimys is an extinct genus of neoepiblemid rodent that lived from the Early to Late Miocene in what is now South America. Fossils have been found in the Cerro Bandera, Cerro Boleadoras, Ituzaingó, Santa Cruz, and Sarmiento Formations of Argentina, and the Galera, Santa Cruz and Río Frías Formations of Chile.
