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Eocene birds from the western margin of southernmost South America

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 July 2015

Michel A. Sallaberry ,
Roberto E. Yury-Yáñez ,
Rodrigo A. Otero ,
Sergio Soto-Acuña  and
Teresa G. Torres
Michel A. Sallaberry
Affiliation:
1Laboratorio de Zoología de Vertebrados, Departamento de Ciencias Ecológicas, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Chile, Las Palmeras 3425, Ñuñoa, Santiago de Chile, , ,
Roberto E. Yury-Yáñez
Affiliation:
1Laboratorio de Zoología de Vertebrados, Departamento de Ciencias Ecológicas, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Chile, Las Palmeras 3425, Ñuñoa, Santiago de Chile, , ,
Rodrigo A. Otero
Affiliation:
1Laboratorio de Zoología de Vertebrados, Departamento de Ciencias Ecológicas, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Chile, Las Palmeras 3425, Ñuñoa, Santiago de Chile, , , 2Consejo de Monumentos Nacionales, área Patrimonio Natural, Vicuña Mackenna 084, Providencia, Santiago de Chile,
Sergio Soto-Acuña
Affiliation:
1Laboratorio de Zoología de Vertebrados, Departamento de Ciencias Ecológicas, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Chile, Las Palmeras 3425, Ñuñoa, Santiago de Chile, , ,
Teresa G. Torres
Affiliation:
3Facultad de Ciencias Agronómicas, Universidad de Chile, Santa Rosa 11315, Santiago de Chile,
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Abstract

This study presents the first record of Eocene birds from the western margin of southernmost South America. Three localities in Magallanes, southern Chile, have yielded a total of eleven bird remains, including Sphenisciformes (penguins) and one record tentatively assigned to cf. Ardeidae (egrets). Two different groups of penguins have been recognized from these localities. The first group is similar in size to the smallest taxa previously described from Seymour Island, Marambiornis Myrcha et al., 2002, Mesetaornis Myrcha et al., 2002, and Delphinornis Wiman, 1905. The second recognized group is similar in size to the biggest taxa from Seymour Island; based on the available remains, we recognize the genus Palaeeudyptes Huxley, 1859, one of the most widespread penguin genera in the Southern Hemisphere during the Eocene. The stratigraphic context of the localities indicates a certain level of correlation with the geological units described on Seymour Island. The newly studied materials cast more light on the paleobiogeography of the group, extending the known ranges to the South American continent. In addition to the newly discovered birds, the presence of several taxa of elasmobranchs previously recovered exclusively from Eocene beds in the Southern Hemisphere help to clarify the age of the studied localities, widely discussed during the last decades. This paper verifies the presence of extensive Eocene sedimentary successions with fossil vertebrates along the western margin of southern South America, contrary to the previous assumption that such a record is lacking in Chile.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Paleontology , Volume 84 , Issue 6 , November 2010 , pp. 1061 - 1070
Copyright
Copyright © The Paleontological Society 

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