Endocranial morphology of Pygoscelis calderensis (Aves,Spheniscidae) from the Neogene of Chile and remarks on brain morphology in modern Pygoscelis |
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| Authors: | Ariana Paulina-Carabajal Carolina Acosta-Hospitaleche Roberto E Yury-Yáñez |
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| Institution: | 1. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, Buenos Aires, Argentina;2. Museo Carmen Funes, Av. Córdoba 55 (8318)Plaza Huincul, Neuquén, Argentinaa.paulinacarabajal@conicet.gov.ar;4. División Paleontología de Vertebrados, Museo de la Plata, Paseo del Bosque s/n, 1900 La Plata, Argentina;5. Laboratorio de Zoología de Vertebrados, Departamento de Ciencias Ecológicas, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Chile, Las Palmeras 3425, ?u?oa, Santiago de Chile, Chile |
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| Abstract: | The endocranial anatomy of Pygoscelis calderensis, a fossil species from the Bahía Inglesa Formation (Middle Miocene–Pliocene) of Chile, South America, was described through CT scans. Reconstructions of the fossil P. calderensis and endocasts for the living Pygoscelis adeliae, and Pygoscelis papua are provided here for the first time. Comparisons with the extant congeneric species P. adeliae, Pygoscelisantarctica and P. papua indicate that the morphological pattern of the brain and inner ear of the extant pygoscelids has been present already in the Middle Miocene. The neurological morphology suggests that the paleobiology of the extinct form would have been similar to the extant species. It was probably true for diet, feeding behaviour and diving kinematics. |
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| Keywords: | braincase cranial endocast inner ear Pygoscelis South America |
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