Clymenoptilon Explained

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.

Notes and References

  1. 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 . en . 47 . 3 . 315–326 . 10.1080/03115518.2023.2246528 . 0311-5518. free . 2023Alch...47..315M .
  2. Web site: Lazaro . Enrico de . 2023-09-01 . Paleocene Fossil Illuminates Early Evolutionary History of Tropicbirds Sci.News . 2023-12-02 . Sci.News: Breaking Science News . en-US.
  3. Web site: 2023-09-02 . New fossil species suggests tropicbirds originated in Zealandia . 2023-12-02 . RNZ . en-nz.

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