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'''Plotopteridae'''<ref>{{cite journal|author= Howard, H. |year=1969|title= A new avian fossil from Kern County, California|journal=[[Condor (journal)|Condor]]|volume=71|issue=1|pages= 68–69|url=http://sora.unm.edu/sites/default/files/journals/condor/v071n01/p0068-p0069.pdf|doi= 10.2307/1366050|jstor=1366050}}</ref> is the name of an [[extinct]] [[family (biology)|family]] of flightless [[seabird]]s from the order [[Suliformes]]. Related to the [[gannet]]s and [[booby|boobies]], they exhibited remarkable [[convergent evolution]] with the [[penguin]]s, particularly with the now [[extinct]] giant penguins.<ref>{{cite journal|author= Olson, Storrs L.|author2= Hasegawa, Yoshikazu |year=1979|title= Fossil Counterparts of Giant Penguins from the North Pacific|journal=[[Science (journal)|Science]]|volume=206|issue=4419|pages= 688–689|bibcode=1979Sci...206..688O|doi= 10.1126/science.206.4419.688|pmid=17796934}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|author1=Olson, Storrs L. |author2=Hasegawa, Yoshikazu |name-list-style=amp |year=1996|title= A new genus and two new species of gigantic Plotopteridae from Japan (Aves: Pelecaniformes)|journal=[[Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology|J. Vert. Paleontol.]]|volume=16|issue=4|pages= 742–751|doi= 10.1080/02724634.1996.10011362}}</ref> That they lived in the [[North Pacific]], the other side of the world from the penguins, has led to them being described at times as the Northern Hemisphere's penguins, though they were not closely related. More recent studies have shown, however, that the shoulder-girdle, forelimb and sternum of plotopterids differ significantly from those of penguins, so comparisons in terms of function may not be entirely accurate.<ref>Tatsuro et al., New Skeletal Remains of Plotopterids from Japan, SVP 2015</ref> On the other hand, there is a theory that this group may have a common ancestor with penguins due to the similarity of brain morphology
Their [[fossil]]s have been found in [[California]], [[Oregon]],<ref>{{cite journal|author= Goedert, James L. |year=1988| title= A new late Eocene species of Plototpteridae (Aves: Pelecaniformes) from northwestern Oregon |journal= Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences |volume= 45 |pages= 97–102}}</ref> [[Washington (state)|Washington]],<ref>{{Cite journal|author1=Gerald Mayr |author2=James L. Goedert |name-list-style=amp |year=2016 |title=New late Eocene and Oligocene remains of the flightless, penguin-like plotopterids (Aves, Plotopteridae) from western Washington State, U.S.A. |journal=Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology |volume=36 |issue=4 |pages=e1163573 |doi=10.1080/02724634.2016.1163573 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal| author1= Mayr, Gerald| author2= Goedert, James L.| year= 2018| title= First record of a tarsometatarsus of ''Tonsala hildegardae'' (Plotopteridae) and other avian remains from the late Eocene/early Oligocene of Washington State (USA)| journal= Geobios| volume= 51| pages= 51–59| doi= 10.1016/j.geobios.2017.12.006 }}</ref> [[British Columbia]]<ref>{{Cite journal|author1=Gary Kaiser|author2=Junya Watanabe |author3=Marji Johns |name-list-style=amp |year=2015 |title=A new member of the family Plotopteridae (Aves) from the late Oligocene of British Columbia, Canada |journal=Palaeontologia Electronica |volume=18 |issue=3 |pages=Article number 18.3.52A |url=http://palaeo-electronica.org/content/2015/1359-plotopterid-in-canada }}</ref> and [[Japan]]. They ranged in size from that of a large [[cormorant]] (such as a [[Brandt's cormorant]]), to being 2 m long. They had shortened wings optimised for underwater wing-propelled pursuit diving (like penguins or the now extinct [[great auk]]), and a body [[skeleton]] similar to that of the [[darter]].
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