Eudyptes calauina

Eudyptes calauina is an extinct species of crested penguin that lived during the Late Pliocene.^[1] It inhabited what is now central Chile.

†Eudyptes calauina Temporal range: Pliocene
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Sphenisciformes
Family:	Spheniscidae
Genus:	Eudyptes
Species:	†E. calauina
Binomial name
†Eudyptes calauina Hoffmeister, Briceño, and Nielsen, 2014

Etymology

The genus name Eudyptes derives from Ancient Greek, translating to "fine diver". The species name calauina derives from the Yaghan name for the rockhopper penguin (Eudyptes chrysocome).^[1]

Description

Eudyptes calauina specimens stem from the Horcon Formation in the Valparaiso Region of central Chile.^[1] The extant crested penguin species do not inhabit central Chile.^[1][2]

Eudyptes calauina is larger than the extant crested penguins.^[1] It is also larger than Megadyptes antipodes, Spheniscus chilensis and Spheniscus humboldti.^[1] It is similar in size and proportions to Nucleornis insolitus, an extinct penguin species of the Early Pliocene in South Africa.^[1]