Penguins are a group of aquatic flightless birds from the family Spheniscidae of the order Sphenisciformes. They live almost exclusively in the Southern Hemisphere: only one species, the Galápagos penguin, is found north of the Equator. Highly adapted for life in the ocean water, penguins have countershaded dark and white plumage and flippers for swimming. Most penguins feed on krill, fish, squid and other forms of sea life which they catch with their bills and swallow whole while swimming. A penguin has a spiny tongue and powerful jaws to grip slippery prey.
The Phascolarctidae is a family of marsupials of the order Diprotodontia, consisting of only one extant species, the koala, and six well-known fossil species, with another six less well known fossil species, and two fossil species of the genus Koobor, whose taxonomy is debatable but are placed in this group. The closest relatives of the Phascolarctidae are the wombats, which comprise the family Vombatidae.
Plotopteridae is an extinct family of flightless seabirds with uncertain placement, generally considered as member of order Suliformes. They exhibited remarkable convergent evolution with the penguins, particularly with the now extinct giant penguins. That they lived in the North Pacific, the other side of the world from the penguins, has led to them being described at times as the Northern Hemisphere's penguins, though they were not closely related. More recent studies have shown, however, that the shoulder-girdle, forelimb and sternum of plotopterids differ significantly from those of penguins, so comparisons in terms of function may not be entirely accurate. Plotopterids are regarded as closely related to Anhingidae (darters) and Phalacrocoracidae (cormorants). On the other hand, there is a theory that this group may have a common ancestor with penguins due to the similarity of forelimb and brain morphology. However, the endocast morphology of stem group Sphenisciformes differs from both Plotopteridae and modern penguins.
Pachydyptes, also known as the New Zealand giant penguin is an extinct genus of penguin. This taxon is known from a few bones from Late Eocene rocks in the area of Otago, which were found in two clades near a base of a tree.
Palaeeudyptes is an extinct genus of large penguins, currently containing four accepted species. They were probably larger than almost all living penguins, with the smaller species being about the size of an emperor penguin, and the largest species, Palaeeudyptes klekowskii, having 2 meters (6.6 ft) long and weighed up to 116 kg (256 lb).
Necromanis is an extinct genus of pangolin from superfamily Manoidea. It lived from the middle Oligocene to middle Miocene in Europe. It was originally placed within family Manidae, but was eventually removed from it as more fossil pholidotids from outside that family were found and studied more extensively. Currently, Necromanis is placed as incertae sedis within the pholidotid superfamily Manoidea, together with the families Manidae and Patriomanidae.
Icadyptes is an extinct genus of giant penguins from the Late Eocene tropics of South America.
Otodus angustidens is an extinct species of prehistoric megatoothed sharks in the genus Otodus, which lived during the Oligocene and Miocene epochs about 33 to 22 million years ago. The largest individuals were about 11–12 metres (36–39 ft) long. This shark is related to another extinct megatoothed shark, the famous Otodus megalodon.
Behemotops is an extinct genus of herbivorous marine mammal. It lived from the Early Oligocene (Rupelian) through the Late Oligocene, existing for approximately 10.9 million years. It is the most primitive known desmostylian, believed to be close to the ancestry of all other desmostylians.
Copepteryx is an extinct genus of flightless bird of the family Plotopteridae, endemic to Japan during the Oligocene living from 28.4 to 23 mya, meaning it existed for approximately 5.4 million years.
Diplocynodon is an extinct genus of alligatoroid crocodilian that lived during the Paleocene to Middle Miocene in Europe. Some species may have reached lengths of 3 metres (9.8 ft), while others probably did not exceed 1 metre (3.3 ft). They are almost exclusively found in freshwater environments. The various species are thought to have been opportunistic aquatic predators.
Megalampris keyesi is an extinct opah from the late Oligocene of New Zealand about 26 million years ago. It was recovered from the Otekaike Limestone in North Otago, by a team led by Ewan Fordyce from the Geology Department of the University of Otago. The species is named in honour of the New Zealand palaeontologist Ian Warwick Keyes (1938-2004). It is the largest fossil teleost fish from New Zealand, the spectacular remains comprise three large limestone blocks containing mostly caudal skeleton. These are on display in the Otago Museum, Dunedin, New Zealand. Some of the vertebral centra preserved are 90 mm across. Comparison with the skeletons of living Lampris species suggest the giant fish was around 4 metres (13 ft) in length when alive, which is twice the length of the largest living opah species, Lampris guttatus. The cleithra in the fossil are significantly enlarged to suggest that Megalampris used the pectoral swimming mode characteristic of moonfishes.
Aglyptorhynchus is an extinct genus of prehistoric marine billfish that was distributed worldwide from the early Eocene to the early Miocene. Fossils are primarily known from the Northern Hemisphere, but one species is also known to have inhabited the waters off New Zealand.
The Kokoamu Greensand is a geological formation found in New Zealand. It is a fossil-bearing, late Oligocene, greensand rock unit of the eastern South Island, especially the Waitaki District of North Otago and the southern Canterbury region. The formation was named by geologist Maxwell Gage in the 1950s. In North Otago it underlies the thicker and harder Otekaike Limestone. The formation gets its green colour from the mineral glauconite which forms slowly on the ocean floor.
This paleomammalogy list records new fossil mammal taxa that were described during the year 2012, as well as notes other significant paleomammalogy discoveries and events which occurred during that year.
Kumimanu is an extinct genus of giant penguin, which lived around 60 to 56 million years ago. The type species is K. biceae, which arose after the extinction of the non-avian dinosaurs. Fossils were found in New Zealand, and the discovery was announced in December 2017. A second species, Kumimanu fordycei, was named in February 2023.
Muriwaimanu is an extinct genus of early penguin from the Paleocene Waipara Greensand of New Zealand. Only the type species M. tuatahi is known.
Klallamornis is an extinct genus of Plotopteridae, a family of large, flightless birds related to modern cormorants, darters, gannets, and boobies. This genus included the largest North American plotopterids. Its remains can be found in Late Eocene to Late Oligocene rocks from the Makah Formation, the overlying Pysht Formation and the Lincoln Creek Formation of the State of Washington. During its existence, Klallamornis was the largest plotopterid on the North American continent. The first fossil remains attributed to the taxon were collected in 1983, although the genus wasn't described until 2016.
Pakudyptes is a genus of extinct penguins from the late Oligocene Otekaike Limestone of New Zealand. The genus contains a single species, P. hakataramea, known from three fragmentary limb bones.
