Archaeospheniscus wimani is an extinct species

Species

In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...

 of penguin

Penguin

Penguins are a group of aquatic, flightless birds living almost exclusively in the southern hemisphere, especially in Antarctica. Highly adapted for life in the water, penguins have countershaded dark and white plumage, and their wings have become flippers...

. It was the smallest species of the genus Archaeospheniscus, being approximately 75-85 cm high, or about the size of a Gentoo Penguin

Gentoo penguin

The Gentoo Penguin , Pygoscelis papua, is easily recognized by the wide white stripe extending like a bonnet across the top of its head and its bright orange-red bill. The gentoo penguin has pale whitish-pink webbed feet and a fairly long tail - the most prominent tail of all penguins. Chicks have...

. It is also the oldest known species of its genus

Genus

In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...

, as its remains were found in Middle or Late Eocene

Eocene

The Eocene Epoch, lasting from about 56 to 34 million years ago , is a major division of the geologic timescale and the second epoch of the Paleogene Period in the Cenozoic Era. The Eocene spans the time from the end of the Palaeocene Epoch to the beginning of the Oligocene Epoch. The start of the...

 strata (34-50 MYA) of the La Meseta Formation on Seymour Island

Seymour Island

Seymour Island is an island in the chain of 16 major islands around the tip of the Graham Land on the Antarctic Peninsula. Graham Land is closer to continental land mass than any other part of that Antarctica. It lies within the section of the island chain that resides off the west side of the...

, Antarctica. It is known from a fair number of bones.

The species' binomen

Binomen

In zoological nomenclature, a binomen , is the two-part name of a species. The term was introduced in 1953, abolishing the previously used "binomial name" . A binomen consists of a generic name and a specific epithet...

 honors Carl Wiman

Carl Wiman

Carl Wiman was a Swedish paleontologist and the first professor of paleontology at Uppsala University. He published on a variety of topics, including extinct penguins, and dinosaur fossils sent to Sweden from China and the San Juan Basin of New Mexico...

, an early 20th century researcher who laid the groundwork for the classification of the prehistoric penguins.