Muriwaimanu Temporal range: Paleocene, ~ | |
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Partial specimen of cf. Muriwaimanu tuatahi | |
Scientific classification ![]() | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Aves |
Order: | Sphenisciformes |
Genus: | † Muriwaimanu Mayr et al., 2018 |
Species: | †M. tuatahi |
Binomial name | |
†Muriwaimanu tuatahi Mayr et al., 2018 | |
Synonyms | |
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Muriwaimanu is an extinct genus of early penguin from the Paleocene Waipara Greensand of New Zealand. Only the type species M. tuatahi is known. [1]
The name Muriwaimanu comes from muri, Māori for "after", and Waimanu, referring to the fact that the fossils come from younger strata than Waimanu. [1]
The holotype was discovered in 1980 within the Waipara Greensand near the Waipara River, in Canterbury, New Zealand, and it was initially named Waimanu tuatahi by Slack et al. (2006). [2] Mayr et al. (2018) re-examined the specimen and determined that it belonged to a separate genus, creating the species Muriwaimanu tuatahi. [1]
A second specimen from the Waipara Greensand (CM 2018.124.4), identified as belonging to cf. Muriwaimanu tuatahi and consisting of a partial specimen preserved within two blocks of sandstone, was discovered by Leigh Love in 2017 and was described by Mayr et al. (2020). [3]
Muriwaimanu exhibited a long, narrow beak and paddle-shaped wings, and the fossilized remains also indicate it may have kept their wings in a flexed position during downward strokes, unlike modern penguins whose wings are kept extended, suggesting that Muriwaimanu may be a transition species for modern Antarctic penguins. [3]
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