Inguza predemersus
Sign in to saveInguza predemersus is an extinct species of penguin. It was formerly placed in the genus Spheniscus and presumed to be a close relative of the African penguin, but after its well-distinct tarsometatarsus was found, it was moved into its present monotypic genus. The known fossils specimens were found in Late Pliocene rocks in a quarry at Langebaanweg, South Africa, from about 5 million years ago.
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- Inguza predemersus
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- I. predemersus
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Inguza predemersus is an extinct species of penguin. It was formerly placed in the genus Spheniscus and presumed to be a close relative of the African penguin, but after its well-distinct tarsometatarsus was found, it was moved into its present monotypic genus. The known fossils specimens were found in Late Pliocene rocks in a quarry at Langebaanweg, South Africa, from about 5 million years ago.
What is known from molecular data is that the time at which the present species lived is not too distant from the arrival of the ancestors of the African penguin on the Atlantic coasts of southern Africa. On the other hand, it may be closer to Pygoscelis. This would mean that its ancestors diverged from those of the extant Pygoscelis most likely at an indeterminate point of time during the Oligocene.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Inguza predemersus” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.