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A mega-penguin stood tall on prodigious limbs

Remains discovered by schoolchildren on a fossil-hunting trip belonged to an extinct giant bird.
Artist's impression of the Kawhia giant penguin Kairuku waewaeroa

The giant penguin Kairuku waewaeroa (artist’s impression) had both a long bill and long legs. Credit: Simone Giovanardi

In 2006, school kids in New Zealand discovered the fossilized remains of a penguin the size of a ten-year-old child. The giant bird turns out to be a new species of penguin that, thanks to its long legs, was taller than any of its modern relatives1.

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Nature 597, 597 (2021)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-021-02562-y

References

  1. Giovanardi, S., Ksepka, D. T. & Thomas, D. B. J. Vertebr. Paleontol. https://doi.org/10.1080/02724634.2021.1953047 (2021).

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