The Waipara Greensand is a geological rock unit found in Canterbury, New Zealand. It dates from just after the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event, the Selandian and Thanetian, around 62–58 million years ago in the Palaeocene. It is well known for its fossils, particularly for containing the oldest penguins (Sphenisciformes) and also containing shark and fish fossils.
Geology The Waipara Greensand is a fine to medium-grained, richly glauconitic quartzose sandstone. It crops out throughout North Canterbury. It has been interpreted as having been deposited in a shallow marine setting under conditions of very slow sedimentation. It is deepest in the Waipara River area, where it reaches a thickness of about , thinning to the south and north.Browne, G.H. and Field, B.D. 1985. Lithostratigraphy of Late Cretaceous to Early Pleistocene rocks of northern Canterbury, New Zealand. New Zealand Geological Survey Record, 6, 1–63.
The Waipara Greensand are Thanetian and Selandian in age (62 to 58 Mya). The top of the Waipara Greensand marks the Teurian–Waipawan New Zealand stage boundary, which is correlated internationally with the Paleocene-Eocene boundary.
Fossils The Waipara Greensand is only sparsely fossiliferous, but there are some significant discoveries made from this rock unit. There have been at least at least 16 neoselachian sharks found, including Chlamydoselachus keyesi and Centroselachus goord, as well as the enigmatic Waiparaconus, which is either a barnacle or a coelenterate,Buckeridge, J. S. 1993. A re‐evaluation of the Gondwanan invertebrate Waiparaconus as a coelenterate. Records of the Western Australian Museum, 16, 221– 233. the remains of the early-diverging penguins Archaeodyptes, Daniadyptes, Muriwaimanu, Sequiwaimanu, Waimanu, Waimanutaha, and Waiparadyptes,Fordyce, R.E. and Jones, C.M. 1990. The history of penguins and new fossil penguin material from New Zealand. 419–446. In Davis, L.S. and Darby, J.T. (eds). Penguin biology III. Academic Press, San Diego, 467 pp. the early tropicbird Clymenoptilon, and rarely also fish bones and poorly preserved molluscs. Nanofossils include two key age‐diagnostic taxa, Chiasmolithus bidens and Hornbrookina teuriensis.Mannering, A. A., and N. Hiller. 2008. An early Cenozoic neoselachianshark fauna from the southwest Pacific. Palaeontology 51:1341–1365.
The majority of shark specimens were recovered from loose weathered material that accumulates at the foot of steep banks along the Waipara River. Gypsum often encrusts the teeth, making identification difficult. Birds
Birds reported from the Waipara Greensand Genus Species Location Stratigraphic position Material Notes Images ArchaeodyptesA. waitahaorum A partial skeleton including skull bones An early penguin. AustralornisA. lovei Wing and pectoral girdle An early seabirdClymenoptilonC. novaezealandicum A skull An early tropicbird Daniadyptes D. primaevus A right humerus and possibly a right tibiotarsus. An early penguin Muriwaimanu M. tuatahi A skull, partial mandible, and some partial skeletonAn early penguinProtodontopteryx P. ruthae A partial skeleton including the skull, portions of the limb bones, some vertebrae, and a wing phalanx. An early pseudotooth bird Sequiwaimanu S. rosieae A wing boneAn early penguin WaimanuW. manneringiA partial skeleton comprising almost complete right tibiotarsus, proximal half of right fibula, right tarsometatarsus, right pelvis, and synsacrum (with last thoracic vertebra attached to the synsacrum), and four caudal vertebrae.An early penguin Waimanutaha W. kenlovei A partial skeleton including the mandible and possibly two additional partial skeletons An early penguin Waiparadyptes W. gracilitarsus A partial skeleton including a partial skull and mandible, as well as a partial left humerus and tarsometatarsus. An early penguin
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