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Wunketru

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Extinct genus of waterfowl

Wunketru
Temporal range: Early Eocene PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Clade: Anserimorphae
Order: Anseriformes
Genus: †Wunketru
De Mendoza, Degrange & Tambussi, 2024
Species: †W. howardae
Binomial name
†Wunketru howardae
(Cracraft, 1970)
Synonyms

Wunketru is an extinct genus of waterfowl from the Eocene Las Flores Formation of Chubut Province, Argentina. The genus contains a single species, Wunketru howardae, known from a partial skeleton previously classified as a species of Telmabates.

Discovery and naming

The holotype, consisting of ninety mineralized bones, all somewhat distorted, such as small skull fragments, the main bones of the leg, wing, and pectoral girdle, the manubrial end of the sternum including part of the keel, a pelvis fragment, a sacrum, and a few vertebrae, was described as being similar to Telmabates antiquus by Howard (1955). The fossils were named as Telmabates howardae by Cracraft (1970).

Feduccia and McGrew (1974) considered T. howardae to be a junior synonym of Presbyornis pervetus.

In 2024, De Mendoza, Degrange & Tambussi named and described Wunketru howardae as they found the species to be separate from Telmabates.

Classification

In 2024, Wunketru was classified as a member of Anseriformes incertae sedis.

References

  1. ^ De Mendoza, Ricardo Santiago; Degrange, Federico Javier; Tambussi, Claudia Patricia (2024). "An assessment of the anseriform affinities of "Telmabates" howardae". Journal of South American Earth Sciences. 135. 104786. Bibcode:2024JSAES.13504786D. doi:10.1016/j.jsames.2024.104786. S2CID 267159455.
  2. ^ Cracraft, Joel (1970). "A New Species of Telmabates (Phoenicopteriformes) from the Lower Eocene of Patagonia". The Condor. 72 (4): 479–480. doi:10.2307/1366403. ISSN 0010-5422. JSTOR 1366403.
  3. H. Howard. (1955). A new wading bird from the Eocene of Patagonia. American Museum Novitates 1710:1-25
  4. Alan Feduccia, Paul O. McGrew (1974); A flamingolike wader from the Eocene of Wyoming. Rocky Mountain Geology; 13 (2): 49–61.


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