Clymenoptilon
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.
| Clymenoptilon Temporal range: | |
|---|---|
| Skull | |
| Scientific 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.
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