Extinct Mega Penguin...

by Rockhopper Mon Aug 04, 2014 4:41 am

An extinct penguin that was huge!

Scientists have discovered what they believe to be the biggest penguin to have ever waddled the Earth, standing taller than a human and weighing more than 18 stone (250lb).

The fossilised remains of this ancient mega penguin were uncovered on Seymour Island, just off the Antarctic at its nearest point to South America.

The site has been the source of thousands of significant penguin bones in the past, New Scientist reported, but a team from Argentina’s La Plata Museum have now found two giant fossils that tell us just how big the colossal penguin was.

Previously identified as Palaeeudyptes klekowskii, scientists were already aware of the species which lived between 37 and 40 million years ago.

But we now know the mega penguin would have been more than 2m (6ft 8ins) long from beak tip to toe, or 1.6m tall standing with its beak down, and weighed 115kg (18.1 stone).

That compares to just 46kg for the biggest living penguins – Emperors – which can reach lengths of 1.36m. The previous record-holding extinct penguin stood at 1.5m tall.

From Here.

Tim.