Penguin bones find a missing link with giants

SCIENTISTS HAVE discovered an ancient penguin that bridges the gap between extinct giant human-sized penguins and their modern relatives.

The human-sized penguins whizzed through Southern Hemisphere waters more than 60m years ago.

Fossil records show that the birds swam alongside smaller forms. The newly described Kupoupou stilwelli has been found on the remote Chatham Islands in the southern Pacific near New Zealand’s South Island.

Jacob Blokland, of Flinders University, who made the discovery, said: “Next to its colossal human-sized cousins, including the recently described monster penguin Crossvallia waiparensis, Kupoupou was comparatively small – no bigger than modern King penguins which stand just under 1.1 metres tall.”