Doctor Mud Posted January 12, 2014 Share Posted January 12, 2014 I had a chance to visit a quarry in the South Island, New Zealand during my recent trip there. There is a late Oligocene sequence comprising greensand overlain by limestone. The limestone is mined for lime so new material is being exposed all the time. My goal was to look for sharks teeth in the processed piles of lime in the quarry. These piles contain the coarser material left over after crushing and sieving so unfortunately any larger material is a little worse for wear. I thought it would be worth a look since small sharks teeth would have survived the process. I came across this bone fragment that I believe is the humerus (upper flipper bone) of a large penguin. This is the distal end (closer to the tip of the flipper). I took before and after prep. shots. The limestone is quite soft here and could be removed with a needle and stiff artists brush. After removing the matrix the bone was stabilised with PVA dissolved in acetone. Below is a comparison of the humerus of a Little Blue Penguin (Eudyptula minor) with this humerus fragment. The Little Blue Penguin stands about 30 cm tall. Fossil penguins have been found in New Zealand that are larger than the Emperor penguin. Kairuku (also from the Late Oligocene) was at least 12 inches taller than the modern Emperor Penguin. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspex Posted January 12, 2014 Share Posted January 12, 2014 I agree with your conclusion, and am very, very jealous! Outstanding find! "There has been an alarming increase in the number of things I know nothing about." - Ashleigh Ellwood Brilliant “Try to learn something about everything and everything about something.” - Thomas Henry Huxley >Paleontology is an evolving science. >May your wonders never cease! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichW9090 Posted January 12, 2014 Share Posted January 12, 2014 (edited) Yes, definitely an important find - you might want to contact Ewan Fordyce (ewan.fordyce@otago.ac.nz) at the University of Otago, Department of Geology. This might be an important fossil; if so, you should consider donating it through Ewan - I'm sure they'd make a good cast for you to display. I haven't looked at penguin bones and fossils for a while, but this humerus seems relatively much broader than any I remember, although it is hard to judge, since I can't really get a feel for how much of the end is missing. Worthy candidate for VFOTM, I think. Rich Edited January 12, 2014 by RichW9090 The plural of "anecdote" is not "evidence". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspex Posted January 12, 2014 Share Posted January 12, 2014 The "wrinkles" in the cranial surface, distal end, are the subject of a paper: "Penguin heat retention structures..." LINK "There has been an alarming increase in the number of things I know nothing about." - Ashleigh Ellwood Brilliant “Try to learn something about everything and everything about something.” - Thomas Henry Huxley >Paleontology is an evolving science. >May your wonders never cease! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PRK Posted January 12, 2014 Share Posted January 12, 2014 (edited) VERY VERY cool dr mud. never seen anything like that. Thanks for showing Edited January 12, 2014 by PRK Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichW9090 Posted January 12, 2014 Share Posted January 12, 2014 Great article, Auspex, thanks for linking it. The plural of "anecdote" is not "evidence". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boesse Posted January 12, 2014 Share Posted January 12, 2014 (edited) You might have a Platydyptes rather than a Kairuku - it depends upon which formation you collected it from (Kokoamu Greensand or the Otekaike Limestone). Admittedly, it might be too large for a Platydyptes (Kairuku was certainly a beast of a bird). We have all of the Kairuku type material in our department here at Otago (I'm a Ph.D. student of Ewan Fordyce at U. Otago studying fossil baleen whales from the Otekaike LS and Kokoamu GS). Many future studies of fossil penguins are needed, and your specimen is certainly interesting, so if you are interested in making a contribution to science, our collections are definitely an appropriate repository for specimens of that sort. I'm emailing this page to my adviser, R. Ewan Fordyce. Edit: I forgot to mention that were are set up to make molds and casts of fossils in our lab, and a molding a specimen of this size would be quite easy. Edited January 12, 2014 by Boesse Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doctor Mud Posted January 13, 2014 Author Share Posted January 13, 2014 I agree with your conclusion, and am very, very jealous! Outstanding find! Thanks Auspex! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doctor Mud Posted January 13, 2014 Author Share Posted January 13, 2014 The "wrinkles" in the cranial surface, distal end, are the subject of a paper: ~.JPG "Penguin heat retention structures..." LINK Thanks Auspex - very interesting paper. Thanks for posting the link. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doctor Mud Posted January 13, 2014 Author Share Posted January 13, 2014 You might have a Platydyptes rather than a Kairuku - it depends upon which formation you collected it from (Kokoamu Greensand or the Otekaike Limestone). Admittedly, it might be too large for a Platydyptes (Kairuku was certainly a beast of a bird). We have all of the Kairuku type material in our department here at Otago (I'm a Ph.D. student of Ewan Fordyce at U. Otago studying fossil baleen whales from the Otekaike LS and Kokoamu GS). Many future studies of fossil penguins are needed, and your specimen is certainly interesting, so if you are interested in making a contribution to science, our collections are definitely an appropriate repository for specimens of that sort. I'm emailing this page to my adviser, R. Ewan Fordyce. Edit: I forgot to mention that were are set up to make molds and casts of fossils in our lab, and a molding a specimen of this size would be quite easy. Hi there, If you think this would make a useful contribution to the University fossil penguin collection I would be happy to donate this specimen. Just let me know and I can organize to deliver it to the Geology Department at Otago University. Yes - this specimen appears to be from the Otekaike Limestone. The bone was not in situ but I took photos of the attached matrix (looks like Otekaike limestone) and kept the matrix I removed in a vial. I noticed forams in the matrix and I thought they might be useful to provide a context. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boesse Posted January 13, 2014 Share Posted January 13, 2014 Fantastic! I'll PM you with my email address and we can get this started. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspex Posted January 13, 2014 Share Posted January 13, 2014 ...I took photos of the attached matrix (looks like Otekaike limestone) and kept the matrix I removed in a vial. I noticed forams in the matrix and I thought they might be useful to provide a context. Very well done, Sir! "There has been an alarming increase in the number of things I know nothing about." - Ashleigh Ellwood Brilliant “Try to learn something about everything and everything about something.” - Thomas Henry Huxley >Paleontology is an evolving science. >May your wonders never cease! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
busyeagle Posted January 13, 2014 Share Posted January 13, 2014 Woah, neat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RickNC Posted January 13, 2014 Share Posted January 13, 2014 Great find. Congrats. Thanks for sharing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichW9090 Posted January 13, 2014 Share Posted January 13, 2014 This is what makes it all worth while! Rich The plural of "anecdote" is not "evidence". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpc Posted January 13, 2014 Share Posted January 13, 2014 I'll throw this in... I donated a specimen to one of Bobby's studies and he gave me back an excellent cast... Thanks Bobby. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnJ Posted January 13, 2014 Share Posted January 13, 2014 This is what makes it all worth while! Rich I couldn't agree more. Great find, Doctor Mud! The human mind has the ability to believe anything is true. - JJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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