Giant penguin brought to virtual life
What began as a chance discovery of a 28 million-year-old giant penguin fossil has led to Waikato’s ancient history being brought back to virtual life.
Waikato Museum has used 3D scanning technology to create a profile of the Kawhia giant penguin using its fossilised remains.
The fossil was discovered on the beach at Kawhia in January 2006 by members of the Hamilton Junior Naturalist Club. The discovery earned the club one of the country’s most prestigious geological awards – the Wellman Award from the Geological Society of New Zealand.
Waikato Museum, in partnership with Massey University, have put together an exhibition entitled Giant in the North, which includes a 3D profile of the fossil.
Massey University palaeontologist Dr Daniel Thomas did the scan and hoped the 3D image would help researchers formally identify the Kawhia penguin.
It lived during the Oligocene epoch, about 28 million years ago.
Standing up, the penguin would have stood about 1.5 metres tall and weighed about 100kg – larger than modern-day emperor penguins.
Thomas said the artefact was the largest and most complete fossil bird ‘‘from a very important time in the history of the North Island’’. The only parts missing from the penguin fossil are the head, the ankles and the wingtips.
Giant in the North will also feature other fossils from the same geological time of the Kawhia giant penguin, such as a specimen of an ancient shark.