| Clymenoptilon Temporal range: | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Skull | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Phaethontiformes |
| Genus: | †Clymenoptilon Mayr et al, 2023 |
| Species: | †C. novaezealandicum |
| Binomial name | |
| †Clymenoptilon novaezealandicum Mayr et al, 2023 | |
Clymenoptilon is an extinct genus of phaethontiform bird related to modern tropicbirds. It contains a single species, C. novaezealandicum from the Paleocene-aged Waipara Greensand of New Zealand. Its name references Clymene, the mother of Phaethon in Greek mythology.[1][2][3]
It is known from a partial skeleton with a nearly complete skull. It is the earliest known phaethontiform from the Southern Hemisphere (living only a few million years after the Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction event), suggesting that the group may have originated in Zealandia. It lived alongside the early pseudotooth bird Protodontopteryx, also one of the oldest representatives of its order.[1][3]
References
- 1 2 Mayr, Gerald; De Pietri, Vanesa L.; Love, Leigh; Mannering, Al; Crouch, Erica; Reid, Catherine; Scofield, R. Paul (2023-07-03). "Partial skeleton from the Paleocene of New Zealand illuminates the early evolutionary history of the Phaethontiformes (tropicbirds)". Alcheringa: An Australasian Journal of Palaeontology. 47 (3): 315–326. doi:10.1080/03115518.2023.2246528. ISSN 0311-5518.
- ↑ Lazaro, Enrico de (2023-09-01). "Paleocene Fossil Illuminates Early Evolutionary History of Tropicbirds | Sci.News". Sci.News: Breaking Science News. Retrieved 2023-12-02.
- 1 2 "New fossil species suggests tropicbirds originated in Zealandia". RNZ. 2023-09-02. Retrieved 2023-12-02.
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