The Emperor penguin towers over the other penguins marching across the Earth today, but more than 35 million years ago that wouldn't have been the case.
An Argentinian researcher discovered a new set of penguin bones that prove the non-flying bird would have stood 6 feet 6 inches and weighed 250 pounds, according to New Scientist. Carolina Acosta Hospitaleche of the La Plata Museum in Argentina found the fossil deposits on Seymour Island, off the Antarctic peninsula.
The penguin is called Palaeeudyptes klekowskii and lived 37 to 40 million years ago. Acosta Hospitaleche classified this period as "a wonderful time for penguins, when 10 to 14 species lived together along the Antarctic coast," she said in her study entitled, "New Giant Penguin Bones From Antarctica: Systematic and Paleobiological Significance."
The height measurement of the penguin may be better classified as its length, due to the animal's posture. The Emperor penguin is today's largest penguin at 3 and a half feet tall and 90 pounds. Discovery compared the penguins to former NBA players Spud Webb (5 feet 7 inches tall) and Shaquille O'Neal (7 feet 1 inches tall).
Larger penguins can dive deeper and stay underwater longer than smaller ones, according to New Scientists. That means the P. klekowskii could submerge for 40 minutes to hunt for fish without breaking the surface, said Acosta Hospitaleche.
Scientists have discovered thousands of fossils on Seymour Island. Bones of the P. klekowskii uncovered were mostly from the wings and feet. Acosta Hospitaleche did find a tarsometatarus bone (formed by the fusion of ankle and foot bones) that measured a record 9.1 centimeters or 3.5 inches, according to New Scientist.
