A 'monster penguin' as big as a human lived in New Zealand [View all]

[crazytown]

Canterbury Museum, August 19, 2019
https://www.canterburymuseum.com/about-us/media-releases/monster-penguin-find-in-waipara-north-canterbury/

Monster Penguin Find in Waipara, North Canterbury

A new species of giant penguin – about 1.6 metres tall – has been identified from fossils found in Waipara, North Canterbury.

The discovery of Crossvallia waiparensis, a monster penguin from the Paleocene Epoch (between 66 and 56 million years ago), adds to the list of gigantic, but extinct, New Zealand fauna. These include the world’s largest parrot, a giant eagle, giant burrowing bat, the moa and other giant penguins.

C. waiparensis is one of the world’s oldest known penguin species and also one of the largest – taller even than today’s 1.2 metre Emperor Penguin – and weighing up to 70 to 80 kg.

(snip) The fossils of several giant species, including C. waiparensis, will be displayed in a new exhibition about prehistoric New Zealand at Canterbury Museum later this year.