Scientists Found Ancient Penguin as Big as Human

 

Newly discovered fossils in New Zealand have revealed a giant penguin¹ that was as big as an adult man.

The creature was almost the same size and weight as professional Canadian hockey player Sidney Crosby, who plays for the Pittsburgh Penguins².

Scientists estimate it was a little shorter than Crosby, at 178 centimeters (Crosby is 180 centimeters), and nine kilograms heavier.

If the hockey player and the real penguin had met on the ice, however, things would have looked a bit different. When standing³ up, the ancient bird only stood about 160 centimeters.

The largest discovered ancient penguin

The new discovery is larger than any other ancient penguin that scientists have found, says Gerald Mayr. He is with the Senckenberg Research Institute and Natural History Museum in Frankfurt, Germany.

A possibly larger penguin is only known to scientists from a small piece of leg bone. That makes estimating its size difficult.

The largest living penguin species is the emperor penguin in Antarctica. It stands about 120 centimeters tall.

Mayr and others described the giant bird in a paper released this week. It was published in the journal Nature Communications. The researchers named the penguin Kumimanu biceae. The name is a combination of Maori-language words for a mythological⁴ monster and a bird, and the name of one of the author’s mother.

The fossils are between 56 million to 60 million years old. That is almost as old as the earliest-known penguin fossils, says Daniel Ksepka. He works at the Bruce Museum of Greenwich, Connecticut. Ksepka has studied New Zealand fossil penguins but was not a part of the new study.

Ksepka told the Associated Press that the new discovery shows that penguins grew very large, very quickly. They grew just after a mass extinction⁵ 66 million years ago – the extinction that is best known for killing⁶ off dinosaurs⁸, he said.

The event played a role in penguin history, as well. Before that, a non-flying seabird like the penguin would have been threatened by larger animals living in or near the water, as they competed for the same food. But after the extinction killed most of the larger animals, the ability to fly became less important.

This helped penguins survive and grow.

The question that remains⁹, however, is what happened to the giant birds?

Mayr said researchers believe they died out when large marine¹⁰ mammals, such as toothed whales and seals, showed up and started competing with the penguins for food and safe breeding places.

These newer animals may also have hunted the giant penguins.

I’m Phil Dierking.

Words in This Story

dinosaur⁷ - n. one of many reptiles¹¹ that lived on Earth millions of years ago?

evolve - v. to change or develop slowly often into a better, more complex, or more advanced state?

extinction - n. the state or situation that results when something (such as a plant or animal species) has died out completely?

fossil - n. something (such as a leaf, skeleton, or footprint) that is from a plant or animal which lived in ancient times and that you can see in some rocks?

marine mammal - n. Marine mammals are aquatic¹² mammals that rely on the ocean and other marine ecosystems¹³ for their existence. ?

mythological - adj. the myths of a particular group or culture

1 penguin   

n.企鹅

参考例句：

• The penguin is a flightless bird.企鹅是一种不会飞的鸟。
• He walked with an awkward gait like a penguin.他走路的步子难看得就像企鹅。

2 penguins   

n.企鹅( penguin的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Why can penguins live in cold environment? 为什么企鹅能生活在寒冷的环境中？ 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Whales, seals, penguins, and turtles have flippers. 鲸、海豹，企鹅和海龟均有鳍形肢。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

3 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

4 mythological   

adj.神话的

参考例句：

• He is remembered for his historical and mythological works. 他以其带有历史感和神话色彩的作品而著称。
• But even so, the cumulative process had for most Americans a deep, almost mythological significance. 不过即使如此，移民渐增的过程，对于大部分美国人，还是意味深长的，几乎有不可思议的影响。

5 extinction   

n.熄灭，消亡，消灭，灭绝，绝种

参考例句：

• The plant is now in danger of extinction.这种植物现在有绝种的危险。
• The island's way of life is doomed to extinction.这个岛上的生活方式注定要消失。

6 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

7 dinosaur   

n.恐龙

参考例句：

• Are you trying to tell me that David was attacked by a dinosaur?你是想要告诉我大卫被一支恐龙所攻击？
• He stared at the faithful miniature of the dinosaur.他凝视著精确的恐龙缩小模型。

8 dinosaurs   

n.恐龙( dinosaur的名词复数 )；守旧落伍的人，过时落后的东西

参考例句：

• The brontosaurus was one of the largest of all dinosaurs. 雷龙是所有恐龙中最大的一种。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Dinosaurs have been extinct for millions of years. 恐龙绝种已有几百万年了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

10 marine   

adj.海的；海生的；航海的；海事的；n.水兵

参考例句：

• Marine creatures are those which live in the sea. 海洋生物是生存在海里的生物。
• When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时，他自愿参加了海军陆战队。

11 reptiles   

n.爬行动物，爬虫( reptile的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Snakes and crocodiles are both reptiles. 蛇和鳄鱼都是爬行动物。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Birds, reptiles and insects come from eggs. 鸟类、爬虫及昆虫是卵生的。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

12 aquatic   

adj.水生的，水栖的

参考例句：

• Aquatic sports include swimming and rowing.水上运动包括游泳和划船。
• We visited an aquatic city in Italy.我们在意大利访问过一个水上城市。

13 ecosystems   

n.生态系统( ecosystem的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• There are highly sensitive and delicately balanced ecosystems in the forest. 森林里有高度敏感、灵敏平衡的各种生态系统。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Madagascar's ecosystems range from rainforest to semi-desert. 马达加斯加生态系统类型多样，从雨林到半荒漠等不一而足。 来自辞典例句