WOAH

Human-Sized Penguin Fossil Found in New Zealand

The Crossvallia waiparensis is estimated to have been about 5 feet tall with a weight of approximately 170 pounds.

A new species of penguin that stood about five feet tall was identified from fossil leg bones found in New Zealand, The Guardian reports. The Crossvallia waiparensis is estimated to have weighed approximately 170 pounds—or four times as heavy and 15 inches taller than the largest living penguin, the emperor penguin. The bones were found by an amateur palaeontologist in Waipara, and was identified by a team at Canterbury Museum and Senckenberg natural history museum in Frankfurt. The Crossvallia waiparensis is the fifth ancient penguin species found from fossils discovered in Waipara. Giant penguins, including this species and others, are thought to have evolved after the dinosaurs disappeared and many large marine reptiles vanished.