Clymenoptilon is an extinct genus of phaethontiform bird related to modern tropicbirds. It contains a single species, C. novaezealandicum from the Paleocene-aged Waipara Greensand of New Zealand. Its name references Clymene, the mother of Phaethon in Greek mythology.[1][2][3]

Clymenoptilon
Temporal range: 62–61 Ma
Skull
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Phaethontiformes
Genus: Clymenoptilon
Mayr et al, 2023
Species:
C. novaezealandicum
Binomial name
Clymenoptilon novaezealandicum
Mayr et al, 2023

It is known from a partial skeleton with a nearly complete skull. It is the earliest known phaethontiform from the Southern Hemisphere (living only a few million years after the Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction event), suggesting that the group may have originated in Zealandia. It lived alongside the early pseudotooth bird Protodontopteryx, also one of the oldest representatives of its order.[1][3]

References

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  1. ^ a b Mayr, Gerald; De Pietri, Vanesa L.; Love, Leigh; Mannering, Al; Crouch, Erica; Reid, Catherine; Scofield, R. Paul (2023-07-03). "Partial skeleton from the Paleocene of New Zealand illuminates the early evolutionary history of the Phaethontiformes (tropicbirds)". Alcheringa: An Australasian Journal of Palaeontology. 47 (3): 315–326. Bibcode:2023Alch...47..315M. doi:10.1080/03115518.2023.2246528. ISSN 0311-5518.
  2. ^ Lazaro, Enrico de (2023-09-01). "Paleocene Fossil Illuminates Early Evolutionary History of Tropicbirds | Sci.News". Sci.News: Breaking Science News. Retrieved 2023-12-02.
  3. ^ a b "New fossil species suggests tropicbirds originated in Zealandia". RNZ. 2023-09-02. Retrieved 2023-12-02.