Palaeeudyptes gunnari

Palaeeudyptes gunnari
Temporal range: Middle Eocene–Late Eocene
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Sphenisciformes
Family: Spheniscidae
Genus: Palaeeudyptes
Species:
P. gunnari
Binomial name
Palaeeudyptes gunnari
(Wiman, 1905)
Synonyms

Eosphaeniscus gunnari Wiman, 1905

Palaeeudyptes gunnari is an extinct species of the extinct penguin genus Palaeeudyptes. It was a bit smaller than its congener Palaeeudyptes antarcticus of New Zealand, standing between 110 and 125 cm high, approximately the size of the emperor penguin. It is known from dozens of fossil bones from Middle or Late Eocene strata (34-50 MYA) of the La Meseta Formation on Seymour Island, Antarctica. Initially, it was described as a separate genus, Eosphaeniscus. However, this was based on a single weathered and broken tarsometatarsus. Better material recovered later showed that the species belongs into the present genus.

Wimanornis is probably a synonym of this species (Jadwiszcak, 2006).