Archaeospheniscus wimani

Archaeospheniscus wimani
Temporal range: Middle Eocene–Late Eocene
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Sphenisciformes
Family: Spheniscidae
Genus: Archaeospheniscus
Species:
A. wimani
Binomial name
Archaeospheniscus wimani
Marples 1953
Synonyms

Notodyptes wimani Marples 1953

Archaeospheniscus wimani is an extinct species of penguin. It was the smallest species of the genus Archaeospheniscus, being approximately 75 to 85 centimetres (30 to 33 in) high, or about the size of a gentoo penguin. It is also the oldest known species of its genus, as its remains were found in Middle or Late Eocene strata (34-50 MYA) of the La Meseta Formation on Seymour Island, Antarctica. It is known from a fair number of bones.

The species' binomen honors Carl Wiman, an early 20th-century researcher who laid the groundwork for the classification of the prehistoric penguins.