Publications by authors named "Marcus D Richards"
Article Synopsis
- * A newly described species of tiny penguin helps fill a morphological gap between older Oligocene penguins from New Zealand and early Miocene forms from South America.
- * Phylogenetic analysis suggests that penguin wings evolved quickly during this period, contributing to their swimming efficiency and ecological diversity, with evidence pointing to the role of Zealandia in this evolutionary process.
Article Synopsis
- * The most significant discoveries of these fossils come from New Zealand's Kokoamu Greensand and Otekaike Limestone, revealing some of the largest and oldest eomysticetid specimens.
- * Research indicates that Eomysticetidae may have engaged in skim-feeding, had rudimentary teeth and baleen, experienced significant growth in snout length, and possibly used Zealandia as a calving area, with extinction occurring around the Oligo-Miocene boundary.
Article Synopsis
- - The genus Lamnidae, known for species like the modern white shark, has a fossil record dating back to the late Oligocene and is found globally, with many extinct species recognized from the Cenozoic era.
- - This text reports the first occurrences of two extinct species of Lamnidae in New Zealand, specifically on the South Island.
- - Notably, fossil teeth from these species indicate some of the earliest known instances of these taxa, with one originating from late Miocene deposits and representing the southernmost findings of the group.
The earliest Miocene (Aquitanian, 23-20 Ma) remains a critically under-sampled 'dark age' in cetacean evolution. This is especially true of baleen whales (mysticetes), Aquitanian specimens of which remain almost entirely unknown. Across the globe, the nature of the cetacean fossil record radically shifts at the Oligocene-Miocene boundary, with mysticetes and some archaic odontocete lineages suddenly disappearing despite the availability of cetacean-bearing rock units.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe 47 vertebrate type specimens held in the University of Otago Geology Department are catalogued in detail. A short history of the collection is followed by lists of the type specimens under the Classes Actinopterygii, Reptilia, Aves and Mammalia. A fish trace-fossil is included at the end of the Actinopterygii.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFArticle Synopsis
- Albatrosses have been extensively researched, but their fossil record is limited, mainly with fossils found in the Northern Hemisphere despite modern species being more common in the Southern Hemisphere.
- A new species, identified from the earliest Miocene, is the earliest known albatross in New Zealand and provides the oldest confirmed record of related bird families from that region.
- Phylogenetic studies show that this fossil is outside the main group of existing albatrosses, indicating that their early ancestors were already widespread by the beginning of the Neogene period and might have had some features of modern albatrosses.
The moa footprints from the Pliocene - early Pleistocene of Kyeburn, Otago, New Zealand.
J R Soc N Z
November 2023
In March, 2019, a trackway of seven footprints was found at a riverbank outcrop of Maniototo Conglomerate Formation in the Kyeburn River, Central Otago, South Island, New Zealand. In this study, we describe this first known occurrence of moa (Dinornithiformes) footprints to be found and recovered in Te Waipounamu/South Island. Footprints of the trackway were ∼46 mm deep, 272-300 mm wide and 260-294 mm in length.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF