Jacob Christopher Blokland
@flinders.edu.au
PhD Candidate, Palaeontology Research group, College of Science and Engineering
Flinders University
Scopus Publications
Scholar Citations
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Scopus Publications
Trevor H. Worthy, R. Paul Scofield, Steven W. Salisbury, Suzanne J. Hand, Vanesa L. De Pietri, Jacob C. Blokland, and Michael Archer
Elsevier BV
Jacob Blokland, Catherine Reid, Trevor Worthy, Alan Tennyson, Julia Clarke, and R. Scofield
Coquina Press
Numerous skeletal remains recovered in situ from the late early to middle Paleocene Takatika Grit of Chatham Island, New Zealand, are among the oldest known fossils attributed to the penguin clade (Aves, Sphenisciformes). They represent a new medium-sized taxon, for which we erect a new genus and species, and a second, notably larger form. These new penguins are analysed in a parsimony and Bayesian framework using an updated and revised phylogenetic matrix, based on morphological and molecular characters, and interpreted as among the most basal of known sphenisciforms, closely related to Waimanu. While sharing numerous characteristics with the earliest wing-propelled divers, the novel taxon records the oldest occurrence of the characteristic penguin tarsometatarsus morphology. These ancient Chatham Island representatives add to a growing number and increased morphological diversity of Paleocene penguins in the New Zealand region, suggesting an origin for the group there. With their addition to other Paleocene penguins, these taxa reveal that sphenisciforms rapidly diversified as non-volant piscivores in the southern oceans following the end-Cretaceous mass extinction. They also provide further evidence for the hypothesis that their origin predates the Paleocene. This implies that stem Sphenisciformes and their sister group, the Procellariiformes, both originated in, and so may be expected to occur in, the Late Cretaceous. Jacob C. Blokland. Biological Sciences, College of Science and Engineering, Flinders University, Bedford Park 5042, South Australia, Australia. jacob.blokland@flinders.edu.au Catherine M. Reid. School of Earth and Environment, College of Science, University of Canterbury, Private Bag 4800, Christchurch 8140, New Zealand. catherine.reid@canterbury.ac.nz Trevor H. Worthy. Biological Sciences, College of Science and Engineering, Flinders University, Bedford Park 5042, South Australia, Australia. trevor.worthy@flinders.edu.au BLOKLAND ET AL.: CHATHAM ISLAND PENGUINS 2 Alan J.D. Tennyson. Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, PO Box 467, Wellington 6140, New Zealand. AlanT@tepapa.govt.nz Julia A. Clarke. Department of Geological Sciences, Jackson School of Geosciences, University of Texas at Austin, 2305 Speedway Stop C1160, Austin, TX 78712-1692, USA. Julia_Clarke@jsg.utexas.edu. R. Paul Scofield. Canterbury Museum, Rolleston Avenue, Christchurch 8013, New Zealand. pscofield@canterburymuseum.com