Harris’ penguin was described from a reasonably complete skeleton of a large penguin found at Motunau, North Canterbury by G. Harris in 1955. When Brian Marples named the species he placed it in the genus Paleospheniscus, otherwise known only from Argentina. Twelve years later, George Gaylord Simpson placed the bird in a new monotypic genus honouring Professor Marples (the genus name means Marples’ bird). As this is one of three fossil penguin species named after Professor Marples, it has become known as Harris’ penguin after the specimen’s discoverer. The species name is the latinised name for New Zealand.

Harris’ penguin was probably about the size of a king penguin. Due to the complex geology at Motunau, the age of the only known specimen is uncertain – Early Miocene to Pliocene (22-3 million-years-old), but probably Late Pliocene (c.3 million-years-old). The holotype (CM AV 16527) is held in Canterbury Museum.

Weblinks

http://fossilpenguins.wordpress.com/2010/01/11/dr-marples-and-his-penguins/

References

Marples, B.J. 1960. A fossil penguin from the Late Tertiary of North Canterbury. Records of the Canterbury Museum 7: 185-195.

Simpson, G.G. 1972. Pliocene penguins from North Canterbury, New Zealand. Records of the Canterbury Museum 9: 159-182.

Recommended citation

Miskelly, C.M. 2013. Harris’ penguin. In Miskelly, C.M. (ed.) New Zealand Birds Online. www.nzbirdsonline.org.nz