- A giant penguin fossil indicating that the bird reached an impressive height of more than 5 feet tall has been found near Christchurch, New Zealand.
- Additional penguin species have been found in the same area and are currently being analyzed.
Scientists have discovered fossil evidence of a giant penguin (Crossvallia waiparensis) in New Zealand. The "monster penguin," as the Canterbury Museum in Christchurch affectionately calls it, was the size of a human, standing at 5'3" and weighing a mighty 176 pounds. (For comparison, today's largest penguin species is the Emperor, who stands around 4 feet tall.)
Amateur paleontologists found the fossil, which consisted of leg bones, along a river bed near a cliff in North Canterbury, the BBC reports. Groups from the Canterbury Museum and the Senckenberg Natural History Museum in Germany then analyzed it and determined that C. waiparensis was closely related to Crossvallia unienwillia, another extinct large penguin species measuring over 4 feet tall.
"It further reinforces our theory that penguins attained a giant size very early in their evolution," said Vanesa De Pietri, a paleontologist with the Canterbury Museum.
The monster penguin lived during the Paleocene period among other giant fauna native to New Zealand including parrots, eagles, and the Moa, a 12-foot tall bird.
So how'd the monster penguin get so big? One theory credits a lack of predators like marine reptiles and dinosaurs. Without those creatures breathing down the penguin's back, it was likely able to thrive.
While additional remnants of other penguin species have been found in the same location as the monster penguin, they're still pending further analysis by scientists.
