The biggest penguin that ever existed was a 'monster bird'
The First Art Newspaper on the Net    Established in 1996 Thursday, December 12, 2024


The biggest penguin that ever existed was a 'monster bird'
An undated photo provided by Simone Giovanardi shows an artist’s concept of Kumimanu and Petradyptes penguins on an ancient New Zeleand beach. Fossils found in New Zealand highlight an era after the dinosaurs when giant flightless birds prowled the seas for prey. (Simone Giovanardi via The New York Times)

by Jack Tamisiea



NEW YORK, NY.- New Zealand has been a haven for earthbound birds for eons. The absence of terrestrial predators allowed flightless parrots, kiwis and moas to thrive. Now researchers are adding two prehistoric penguins to this grounded aviary. One species is a beefy behemoth that waddled along the New Zealand coastline nearly 60 million years ago. At almost 350 pounds, it weighed as much as an adult gorilla and is the heaviest penguin known to science.

Alan Tennyson, a paleontologist at Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, discovered the supersize seabird’s bones in 2017. They were deposited on a beach known for large, cannonball-shaped concretions called the Moeraki Boulders. The churn of the tide cracked open several of these 57-million-year-old boulders, revealing bits of fossilized bones inside.

Tennyson and his colleagues identified the fossilized remains of two large penguins. The humerus of one, at more than 9 1/2 inches long, was nearly twice the size of those found in emperor penguins, the largest living penguin. Other boulders yielded bones from a smaller, more complete penguin species that also appeared to be larger than a modern emperor penguin.

The researchers described the ancient birds Wednesday in the Journal of Paleontology. They named the larger penguin Kumimanu (a mashup of the Maori words for “monster” and “bird”) fordycei and named the smaller penguin Petradyptes (“rock diver”) stonehousei.

By creating 3D models of Kumimanu’s humongous humerus and comparing its size and shape with the flipper bones of prehistoric and modern penguins, the researchers estimate that the “monster bird” weighed a whopping 340 pounds — 15 pounds heavier than Lane Johnson, the right tackle anchoring the Philadelphia Eagles offensive line in the Super Bowl.

According to Daniel Ksepka, a paleontologist at the Bruce Museum in Greenwich, Connecticut, and an author of the new study, the Kumimanu’s fragmented skeleton makes it difficult to pinpoint its height. Ksepka estimates that it stood around 5 feet 2 inches, giving it a stocky build. Petradyptes was not a lightweight, either. It weighed 110 pounds, making it heftier than modern emperor penguins, which top out at 88 pounds.

Both Kumimanu and Petradyptes plied the waters off New Zealand during a sweet spot in oceanic history, according to Ksepka. The asteroid impact that ended the dinosaur era had wiped out most marine reptiles while the ancestors of seals and whales were still on land. This meant there were few things that would mess with a black-bear-size penguin.




“If you’re a little 1-pound penguin, a gull can just rip your head off,” Ksepka said. “But a 300-pound penguin is not going to worry about a sea gull landing near it because it would just crush it.”

Despite their prodigious size, Kumimanu and Petradyptes possessed primitive flippers reminiscent of modern seabirds like auks and puffins that fly and dive. Julia Clarke, a paleontologist at the University of Texas at Austin who studies the evolution of diving in birds and was not involved in the new study, said it would make sense for early penguins like Kumimanu and Petradyptes to retain several features left over from their ancestors’ airborne lifestyle.

The new species add evidence that prehistoric penguins became huge before they fine-tuned their flippers into paddle-like appendages. Heavier seabirds are able to dive deeper and longer than their lighter counterparts, Ksepka said. The extra paunch would also have helped these penguins stay warm in the water.

While Kumimanu was mighty, it didn’t crowd out its smaller penguin cousins. “You have super large penguins eating the largest prey items and you also have mid-sized and smaller-bodied penguins, and they can all specialize within a crowded penguin environment,” Clarke said.

Despite plenty of seafood and little competition, these penguins could probably grow only so big.

“I believe that Kumimanu is close to the upper limit of a flightless seabird and I do not expect substantially larger penguins to be found,” said Gerald Mayr, a paleontologist at the Senckenberg Research Institute in Frankfurt, Germany, who described the closely related 220-pound Kumimanu biceae. Mayr, who was not involved in the new study, notes that heavier birds would most likely crush their eggs into yolky smithereens.

As some of the earliest fossil penguins, Kumimanu and Petradyptes reveal just how quickly penguins packed on pounds after they stopped taking to the skies.

“Once you know you’re not flying anymore,” Ksepka said, “the sky’s the limit.”

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.










Today's News

February 10, 2023

Simone Forti's experiments transcribing bodies in motion

The Phillips Collection presents Linling Lu's 'Soundwaves' as 2023 Spring Intersections Project

Doyle to auction fine paintings, prints & sculpture on February 15

The biggest penguin that ever existed was a 'monster bird'

An artist with roots in Nairobi and New York imagines a new destiny

Mendes Wood DM announces the opening of its new gallery space in Paris

Sotheby's to offer the Al Zayani Collection of Middle Eastern Modern & Contemporary Art

Pace Gallery announces exclusive global representation of John Wesley Estate; Debut presentation at Frieze LA

Hermès wins MetaBirkins lawsuit, jurors not convinced NFTs are art

Hip-hop, still fly at 50

Philbrook cements commitment to contemporary art with new hires and acquisitions

February auctions at Bonhams Skinner

SFMOMA announces the appointment of Sheila Shin as Chief Experience Officer

Ronald Blythe, scribe of the English countryside, dies at 100

Soul told Black musicians' stories. Its archives are going digital.

Review: A hip-hop take on Shakespeare's star-crossed lovers

'Lucy' review: There's something about the babysitter

At Cooper Union, a Russian design show caught in a political crossfire

"Everything, Earth and Sky: An Exhibition of Haitian Art" on view at the Patricia & Phillip Frost Art Museum FIU

Rockbund Art Museum appoints Guggenheim Curator X Zhu-Nowell as new Artistic Director

Ahlers & Ogletree announces highlights included in the American West / Native American auction

How 'Some Like It Hot' tunes in to the jazz age

LA Modern Auctions announces highlights of the 'Modern & Contemporary Art' sale

In LA, Dudamel's influence extends beyond the concert hall

With Ocado, Simplify Your Life While Getting All Household Necessities In One App...

The Importance of Restaurant Interior Design

Loan Availability for Second-Hand Tractors in India

Checkwordcounter: 9 Tips to Write a Good Blog

The Importance of Custom Sports Medals

The Seven Best Traffic Apps of 2023




Museums, Exhibits, Artists, Milestones, Digital Art, Architecture, Photography,
Photographers, Special Photos, Special Reports, Featured Stories, Auctions, Art Fairs,
Anecdotes, Art Quiz, Education, Mythology, 3D Images, Last Week, .

 



Founder:
Ignacio Villarreal
(1941 - 2019)
Editor & Publisher: Jose Villarreal
Art Director: Juan José Sepúlveda Ramírez
Writer: Ofelia Zurbia Betancourt

Royalville Communications, Inc
produces:

ignaciovillarreal.org juncodelavega.com facundocabral-elfinal.org
Founder's Site. Hommage
to a Mexican poet.
Hommage
       

The First Art Newspaper on the Net. The Best Versions Of Ave Maria Song Junco de la Vega Site Ignacio Villarreal Site
Tell a Friend
Dear User, please complete the form below in order to recommend the Artdaily newsletter to someone you know.
Please complete all fields marked *.
Sending Mail
Sending Successful