The enormous species was discovered by Alan Tennyson, a paleontologist at the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, in seaside boulders which had split open. Excavations revealed the K. fordycei fossil among a flock of five Petradyptes stonehousei, another new species. A specimen of Kumimanu biceae, a previously discovered giant penguin species, and the bones of smaller unnamed species were also discovered. Tennyson and his team scanned the bones with lasers to compare their flipper sizes with those of other flying and diving birds. Flipper size allowed for the estimation of the birds' sizes.
The magnificent K. fordycei has set a new record; the previous title was held by the 256-pound Palaeeudyptes klekowskii, a species found about 37 million years ago in Antarctica. The other new species discovered in New Zealand is also quite large, although at 110 pounds it is not much larger than an average modern Emperor penguin.
K. fordycei‘s massive size came at an interesting time in penguin evolution. Around 60 million years ago, penguins lost their ability to fly. Their body mass kept them warm in cold seas, while it also made them relatively impervious to predators. The asteroid impact, which caused the excitation of the dinosaurs, also killed off many marine predators.
Paleontologists discovered the fossils of a 340-pound giant penguin species that frolicked around New Zealand more than 50 million years ago.
Source: https://mymodernmet.com
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