Evaluación de los caracteres del húmero de los pingüinos actuales y fósiles para su uso con fines sistemáticos

ACOSTA HOSPITALECHE, C. DEGRANGE, F. TAMBUSSI, C. CORRADO, N. & RUSTÁN, J. J.

ORNITOLOGIA NEOTROPICAL

NEOTROPICAL ORNITHOLOGICAL SOC

Año: 2006 vol. 17 p. 81 - 94

1075-4377

Abstract.- Evaluation of humerus characters in fossil and living penguins to use them with systematic purposes.-  The meaning of the characters of the humerus in the differentiation of living and fossil penguins of South America and Antarctica was evaluated. Statistical techniques (Principal Components Analysis -PCA-) and diagrams of logarithmic differences (DLD) were applied on eight decimal variables and four angular values in 192 humerus of 15 species. Patagonian fossil species and the living ones are easily discriminated in all the analyses. Angular values allow to discriminate between the fossil ?subfamilies", genera and species of the living ones and between the living species. The PCA of eight indices did not result adequate for systematic separation. On the contrary, the comparative study of such indices in the DLD allowed to discriminate taxa in all three hierarchies. Analyses allow to discriminate three groups based on morphometric variations without any phylogenetic meaning: living penguins (Spheniscinae), Patagonian fossil penguins ("Palaeospheniscinae" and "Paraptenodytinae") and Antarctic fossil penguins ("Palaeeudyptinae" and "Anthropornithinae. In conclusion: (1) humerus shows applicable characters in the systematic of the group, (2) morphometric characters can be used as useful tools in the taxonomic treatment of both fossil and recent species, but (3) weighting of the variables altogether is necessary.