The Biggest Penguin That Ever Existed Was a ‘Monster Bird’

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 behemoth that waddled along the New Zealand coastline nearly 60 million years ago. At almost 350 pounds, it is the heaviest penguin known to science.

Alan Tennyson, a New Zealand paleontologist, discovered the big seabird’s bones in 2017 deposited on a beach in Otago known for cannonball-shaped concretions. The tide’s churn cracked open some boulders, revealing bits of fossilised bones inside. Tennyson and his colleagues identified the fossilised remains of two large penguins. The humerus of one, nearly 10 inches long, was nearly twice the size of those found in emperor penguins, the largest living penguin. They also found evidence of a smaller penguin species somewhat larger than an emperor penguin.

The researchers named the larger penguin Kumimanu (from the Maori words for “monster” and “bird”) fordycei and the smaller penguin Petradyptes (“rock diver”) stonehousei.

By comparing the size and shape of Kumimanu’s humerus with the bones of prehistoric and modern penguins, researchers estimated the bird’s weight at 340 pounds — 15 pounds heavier than Lane Johnson, the right tackle who anchored the Philadelphia Eagles’ offensive line in the Super Bowl.

— JACK TAMISIEA/ NYT