A reconstruction of the Kawhia giant penguin. Image credit: Simone Giovanardi.
Sci-News has a story about a new giant penguin from New Zealand. The animal, which lived around 27 million years ago during the Oligocene Period, joins a growing list of giant penguins from New Zealand. This list include the genera Kairuku, Pachydyptes, Palaeeudyptes, and Kumimanu. This new one belongs to the genus Kauruku. The details were reported at the 79th Meeting of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology in Brisbane, Australia on October 9th, 2019.
New Zealand is a key area for understanding the ancient history of penguins.
Fossils found there range in age from Paleocene up to Pleistocene, constituting a period that spans more than 60 million years.
The country’s fossil record includes many genera and species of ‘giant’ penguins (i.e., larger than living penguins), such as Kairuku, Pachydyptes, Palaeeudyptes and Kumimanu.
The ancient giants differed from their living descendants in the length of their front limbs and elongated beaks, perhaps suggesting differences in ecological roles when compared with living species.
The new fossil, which belongs to the genus Kairuku, was found in an Oligocene silty mudstone in Kawhia Harbour, New Zealand’s North Island.
“The Kawhia giant penguin is mostly complete and largely articulated in life position, which helps a great deal with reconstructing the relatively long and slender body,” said Simone Giovanardi, a Ph.D. student at Massey University Albany.
