A new species of giant penguin has been identified from fossils

The fossilised remains of a huge penguin almost the size of an adult human have been found in New Zealand’s South Island, scientists announced Wednesday. The giant waddling sea bird stood 1.6 metres (63 inches) high and weighed 80 kilograms, about four times heavier and 40cm taller than the modern Emperor penguin, researchers said. Named “crossvallia waiparensis”, it hunted off New Zealand’s coast in the Paleocene era, 66-56 million years ago. An amateur fossil hunter found leg bones belonging to the bird last year and it was confirmed as a new species in research published this week in “Alcheringa: An Australasian Journal of Palaeontology”.