Kingdom Animalia Class Aves Family Spheniscidae Scientific name Palaeospheniscus gracilis | Phylum Chordata Order Sphenisciformes Subfamily Palaeospheniscinae Rank Species | |
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Palaeospheniscus gracilis is a species of the extinct penguin genus Palaeospheniscus. It is the smallest species of its genus, with a height of 40–60 cm. Average individuals, thus, were about the size of the Galapagos penguin.
This species was long believed to have first been found in Early Oligocene deposits. However, it seems that the type specimen, a tarsometatarsus, was recovered not from Early Oligocene rocks, but was found on top of them, having been displaced there from a later stratum. The location where the bone was found seems to have been near Cabeza Blanca. At any rate, all later specimens were found in the Early Miocene Patagonian Molasse Formation; those that have locality data are from the area around Trelew and Gaiman in Chubut Province, Argentina.
Some recent researchers have suggested that this species should be considered a synonym of Palaeospheniscus bergi.