Pinpanettais another recently described genus of bird, specifically from Australia - the Etadunna Formation, the Namba Formation, and Riversleigh, ranging from South Australia to Queensland. It lived from about 26 to 24 million years ago, in the Chattian age of the Oligocene of the Paleogene. This means they were a very common feature during this distinctive time in Australia’s history, when a lot of modern groups are found (as well as some of the origins of modern passerines). A group of stiff-tailed ducks, Pinpanettahad distinctive grooves on their wings that created shallow or no notches for muscle attachment on one point, as well as other subtle skeletal differences. These birds were closely related to modern stiff-tailed ducks, indicating their early radiation. They were probably well adapted to diving, due to convergent evolution with modern diving ducks, and show a very early point at which diving behavior had evolved in ducks. The three species mainly differ based on where they are from, as well as some subtle skeletal differences.
Source:
Worthy, T. 2009. Descriptions and phylogenetic relationships of two new genera and four new species of Oligo-Miocene waterfowl (Aves: Anatidae) from Australia. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 156: 411 - 454.
