Monster penguin fossils found in North Canterbury

Wednesday, 14 August 2019

The fossils belonged to a previously unknown penguin species, Crossvallia waiparensis, a monster penguin from the Paleocene Epoch. (Video first published in August, 2019)

A new monster penguin species has been identified from fossils found in North Canterbury.

Evidence of the giant bird, which is about 1.6 metres tall and weighs up to 80 kilograms, was discovered in Waipara by amateur palaeontologist Leigh Love in 2018.

Earlier in August a fossil of the world's largest extinct parrot named Heracles inexpectatus was uncovered in Central Otago.

A new species of giant penguin, about 1.6 metres tall, has been identified from fossils found in Waipara, North Canterbury.

Experts believed the huge bird was around 1m tall and weighed about 7kg.

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Canterbury Museum curators Dr Paul Scofield and Dr Vanesa De Pietri, and Dr Gerald Mayr of Senckenberg Natural History Museum in Frankfurt, Germany, analysed the bones and concluded they belonged to a previously unknown penguin species.

* Heracles the 'largest parrot ever': New fossil discovered in Otago

Evidence of what's called a 'truly gigantic parrot' has been found by scientists from Australia and New Zealand among 19-million-year-old fossils (video first published August 2019).

* New Zealand's ancient penguin was as big as a human

* Lasting relic for Kawhia finders of giant penguin fossil**

The discovery of the new penguin species is the fifth ancient penguin species uncovered at the Waipara Greensand site.

Canterbury Museum curators Dr Paul Scofield and Dr Vanesa De Pietri analysed the bones with the help of Dr Gerald Mayr of Senckenberg of the Natural History Museum in Frankfurt, Germany.

Reconstruction of the giant parrot Heracles dwarfing 8cm high bids on the forest floor.

They concluded they belonged to a previously unknown penguin species, Crossvallia waiparensis, a monster penguin from the Paleocene Epoch, dating back between 66 and 56 million years.

Mayr said the Waipara Greensand was arguably the world's most significant site for penguin fossils from that time.

'The fossils discovered there have made our understanding of penguin evolution a whole lot clearer.

'There's more to come, too – more fossils which we think represent new species are still awaiting description.'

The discovery adds to the list of gigantic, but extinct, New Zealand fauna, including the world's largest parrot, a giant eagle, giant burrowing bat, the moa and other giant penguins.

De Pietri said discovering a second giant penguin from the Paleocene Epoch was further evidence early penguins were huge.

'It further reinforces our theory that penguins attained a giant size very early in their evolution.'

Scofield said finding closely related birds in New Zealand and Antarctica showed the country's close connection to the icy continent.

'When the Crossvallia species were alive, New Zealand and Antarctica were very different from today – Antarctica was covered in forest and both had much warmer climates.'

Weighing in at 70 to 80kg, Crossvallia waiparensis is larger than the Emperor penguin, which stands at 1.2 metres tall. The leg bones also suggest their feet played a greater role in swimming than those of modern penguins, or that they had not yet adapted to standing upright.

The fossils of several giant species, including C. waiparensis, will be displayed in a new exhibition about prehistoric New Zealand at Canterbury Museum later this year.