HUTTON, Pc?jgui?is. [,^t 



Emu 



July 



It is worthy of notice that the remains of PalcEeiidyptes are 

 found in the Oamaru freestone, which is the remains of an old 

 coral reef, and that in the miocene period also the sea, both in 

 New Zealand and in Patagonia, appears to have been warmer 

 than it is now. 



Paiceeudyptes is represented by the humerus, coracoid, femur, 

 and metatarsus. The skull, unfortunately, has not yet been 

 found. It was larger than any living Penguin, probably from 

 5 to 6 feet high, and was thought by Professor Huxley, who 

 described it, to be more nearly related to the genus Eudyptes 

 {= Catan^Jiactes + Malady ptes) than to any other. 



PalcEosp]ienisais is known by the limb bones and a {&\n 

 vertebrae. It is said by Dr. Moreno and Dr. Mercerat to be 

 nearer Spheiiiscus than to any other living genus, but the inter- 

 metatarsal grooves are not so deep. The four species were 

 about the size of the Crested Penguins of to-day. 



Parapteuodytes is represented by the bones of the leg and an 

 imperfect mandible. The latter is long and slender, like that 

 of Apienodytes. The inter-metatarsal grooves are shallow. It 

 was about the size of the King Penguin. 



Of the genera of living Penguins Pygoscelis connects 

 Aptenodytes with Megadyptes, and this last genus may be taken 

 to represent the ancestral form of the other two. Sphcnisais is 

 a specialised form of Eudyptula. So if we try to draw up a 

 genealogical- tree of the Penguins we must place Megadyptes and 

 Eiidyf^tula near the base and make Aptenodytes, Catarrhactes, 

 and SpJieniscus occupy the apices of the branches. Paleontology 

 points to Megadyptes as the oldest living form, but Mr. Pycraft 

 is of opinion that Eiidyptida lies nearest to the ancestral stock.* 



Dr. Wilsonf thinks that the Penguins must have diverged 

 from primitive birds when the metatarsal bones had not become 

 completely anchylosed, and that their plantigrade mode of 

 progression may also be a reptilian character. This latter I 

 have already pointed out is a mistake, for the Penguins are as 

 digitigrade as other birds, and if the first was correct we should 

 have to go to the Jurassic period to find the first Penguins, 

 which does not seem likely. But as a matter of fact all known 

 fossil Penguins have their metatarsi as closely anchylosed as in 

 any modern species, and more so than in either Spheniscus or 

 Eudyptula. It is in Spheniscus that we find the metatarsi less 

 anchylosed than in any other Penguin, and if this genus has 

 descended from Eudyptula the separation must be a case of 

 atavism or reversion, and cannot be taken as a true vestigial 

 character. 



As to the colours of the earlier forms of Penguins, we may 

 suppose that they were white below and dark on the back, head, 



* Pioc. Zool. Soc. (1898). \ Challenger Ke^oxiSyZool., vol. vii. 



