Muriwaimanu
{{Short description|Extinct genus of birds}}
{{Speciesbox
| fossil_range = Paleocene,
~{{fossilrange|61.6|58}}
| image = Cf. Muriwaimanu tuatahi.png
| image_caption = Partial specimen of cf. Muriwaimanu tuatahi
| genus = Muriwaimanu
| parent_authority = Mayr et al., 2018
| species = tuatahi
| authority = Mayr et al., 2018
| synonyms = * Waimanu tuatahi Slack et al., 2006
}}
Muriwaimanu is an extinct genus of early penguin from the Paleocene Waipara Greensand of New Zealand. Only the type species M. tuatahi is known.{{Cite journal |author1=Gerald Mayr |author2=Vanesa L. De Pietri |author3=Leigh Love |author4=Al A. Mannering |author5=R. Paul Scofield |year=2018 |title=A well-preserved new mid-Paleocene penguin (Aves, Sphenisciformes) from the Waipara Greensand in New Zealand |journal=Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology |volume=37 |issue=6 |pages=e1398169 |doi=10.1080/02724634.2017.1398169 |s2cid=89744522}}
Etymology
Discovery and naming
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).Slack, K.E., Jones, C.M., Ando, T., Harrison G.L., Fordyce R.E., Arnason, U. and Penny, D. (2006). "Early Penguin Fossils, plus Mitochondrial Genomes, Calibrate Avian Evolution." Molecular Biology and Evolution, 23(6): 1144-1155. {{doi|10.1093/molbev/msj124}} [https://web.archive.org/web/20060630002934/http://mbe.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/reprint/23/6/1144 PDF fulltext] [http://mbe.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/full/msj124/DC1 Supplementary Material] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091216110914/http://mbe.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/full/msj124/DC1|date=2009-12-16}} Mayr et al. (2018) re-examined the specimen and determined that it belonged to a separate genus, creating the species Muriwaimanu tuatahi.
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).{{Cite journal |last1=Mayr |first1=Gerald |last2=De Pietri |first2=Vanesa L. |last3=Love |first3=Leigh |last4=Mannering |first4=Al A. |last5=Bevitt |first5=Joseph J. |last6=Scofield |first6=R. Paul |date=2020-01-26 |title=First Complete Wing of a Stem Group Sphenisciform from the Paleocene of New Zealand Sheds Light on the Evolution of the Penguin Flipper |journal=Diversity |language=en |volume=12 |issue=2 |pages=46 |doi=10.3390/d12020046 |issn=1424-2818 |doi-access=free}}
Description
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.
See also
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Austrodyptornithes|S.|state=collapsed}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q55315059}}
Category:Paleocene first appearances