- Source: Archaeospheniscus wimani
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.
References
Further reading
Jadwiszczak, Piotr (2006). "Eocene penguins of Seymour Island, Antarctica: Taxonomy". Polish Polar Research. 27 (1): 3–62.
Marples, Brian J. (1953): Fossil penguins from the mid-Tertiary of Seymour Island. Falkland Islands Dependencies Survey Scientific Reports 5: 1–15.
Myrcha, Andrzej; Jadwiszczak, Piotr; Tambussi, Claudia P.; Noriega, Jorge I.; Gaździcki, Andrzej; Tatur, Andrzej & Del Valle, Rodolfo A. (2002): Taxonomic revision of Eocene Antarctic penguins based on tarsometatarsal morphology. Polish Polar Research 23(1): 5–46. PDf fulltext