Aptenodytes ridgeni
| Aptenodytes ridgeni Temporal range:
| |
|---|---|
Scientific classification 
| |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Sphenisciformes |
| Family: | Spheniscidae |
| Genus: | Aptenodytes |
| Species: | †A. ridgeni
|
| Binomial name | |
| †Aptenodytes ridgeni Simpson, 1972
| |
Aptenodytes ridgeni, also referred to as Ridgen's penguin, is an extinct species of penguin from the Pliocene of New Zealand.[1] It was intermediate in size between its living congeners, standing an estimated 90–100 cm tall. It is known from fossil bones, including complete leg bones, found at Motunau Beach, north of Christchurch, by 11-year-old Alan Ridgen in 1968.[2]
A fossil skull from South Taranaki was described in 2025 and, while it could belong to Aptenodytes ridgeni, there was no overlap between the skull and the leg bones from the Motunau fossil, so it was assigned to Aptenodytes without determination as to whether it was A. ridgeni or a new species.[3]
References
- ^ Gill, B.J. (2010). Checklist of the Birds of New Zealand, Norfolk and Macquarie Islands, and the Ross Dependency, Antarctica (4th ed.). Wellington: Te Papa Press. p. 330. ISBN 978-1-877385-59-9.
- ^ Gill, Brian (1991). New Zealand's Extinct Birds. Random Century. p. 25. ISBN 1-86941-125-0.
- ^ Tennyson, Alan J.D.; Marx, Felix G.; Ksepka, Daniel T.; Thomas, Daniel B. (2025). "Emperor penguin's fossil relatives inhabited subtropical waters". Journal of Paleontology. doi:10.1017/jpa.2025.10162. Retrieved 24 September 2025.