Giant penguin fossil as tall as a human found in New Zealand
- At 1.6m tall and 80kg, the Crossvallia waiparensis was four times heavier and 40cm taller than the emperor penguin, the largest living penguin
- Enormous penguins are believed to have rapidly evolved in the Palaeocene epoch, between 66 and 56 million years ago
A giant penguin that stood as tall as a person has been identified from fossil leg bones discovered by an amateur palaeontologist on New Zealand’s South Island.
At 1.6m (5.25ft) tall and 80kg (176lbs), the Crossvallia waiparensis was four times heavier and 40cm taller than the Emperor penguin, the largest living penguin.
The newly unearthed penguin joins other oversized but extinct New Zealand birds including the world’s largest parrot, an eagle with a 3m wingspan, 3.6m-tall moa birds and other giant penguins.
Enormous penguins are believed to have rapidly evolved in the Palaeocene epoch – between 66 and 56 million years ago – after the dinosaurs disappeared and large marine reptiles also vanished from southern hemisphere waters that were much warmer than today.
The giant penguin was identified as new to science by a team from Canterbury Museum and Senckenberg natural history museum in Frankfurt after bones were found by Leigh Love, an amateur palaeontologist, at Waipara.
It is the fifth ancient penguin species described from fossils uncovered at the Waipara, where a river cuts into a cliff of greensand.