I wonder why they like the cold weather nowOriginally Posted by http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/6239846.stm
A giant penguin that preferred the tropics to the southern oceans has been discovered by a team of scientists.
The fossilised remains of the animal, which lived some 36 million years ago, were found in what is today Peru.
At 1.5m (5ft) tall, the penguin looked quite different from its modern-day cousins, a report in PNAS journal says.
It had a long protracted skull and what its discoverers are describing as a grossly elongated beak that was spear-like in appearance.
The Icadyptes salasi penguin would dwarf all the penguins who walk the planet today.
It would have stood head and shoulders over the emperor and the king penguins of the southern seas.
Its well-preserved skeleton was discovered in the Department of Ica on the southern coast of Peru along with the remains of as many as four other previously undiscovered penguin species, all of which appear to have preferred the tropics for colder climes.
Indeed, the Icadyptes appears to have lived happily at such warmer latitudes at a time when world temperatures were much hotter than they are today - and long before anyone thought penguins had reached such low latitudes.
Of course, not all modern-day penguins are adapted for life in cold temperatures.
The African or Galapagos penguins, for example, as their names suggest, also prefer warmer waters to the better-known penguins of the southern seas and Antarctica; but they are comparative newcomers, say the researchers, compared with the giant whose discovery they are now announcing.
"That was sort of a dominant hypothesis - that in fact penguins had only reached low latitude regions comparatively recently and after two major periods of cooling in Earth's history," said Dr Julia Clarke, of North Carolina State University, US, and a member of the research team.
"One was around the Eocene-Oligocene about 34 million years ago; and more recently, post 15 million years ago - but in fact we find penguins there now in much warmer periods and much, much earlier."
Full details are reported in a paper published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) of the United States of America.
Results 1 to 10 of 12
-
Tropical giant penguin discovered
I’ll be a story in your head, but that’s okay, because we’re all stories in the end. Just make it a good one, eh? Because it was, you know. It was the best. A daft old man who stole a magic box and ran away. Did I ever tell you that I stole it? Well, I borrowed it. I always meant to take it back. Oh, that box, Amy, you’ll dream about that box. It’ll never leave you. Big and little at the same time. Brand-new and ancient and the bluest blue ever. And the times we had, eh? Would had…Never had. In your dreams, they’ll still be there. The Doctor and Amy Pond and the days that never came.
-
At least it may shut up the members of this forum that think we're making the planet warmer "/ It's been warm before, it's getting warm again. Live with it. That was not directed at you, because you're commenting on the planet cooling
Anyway, to the subject at hand...
It looks really freaky...LEFT
FOM & FOW
If you need me, feel free to PM me here for contact details.
-
I agree lol global warming is a load of rubbish Originally Posted by GommeInc
At least it may shut up the members of this forum that think we're making the planet warmer "/ It's been warm before, it's getting warm again. Live with it. That was not directed at you, because you're commenting on the planet cooling
Anyway, to the subject at hand...
It looks really freaky...
I’ll be a story in your head, but that’s okay, because we’re all stories in the end. Just make it a good one, eh? Because it was, you know. It was the best. A daft old man who stole a magic box and ran away. Did I ever tell you that I stole it? Well, I borrowed it. I always meant to take it back. Oh, that box, Amy, you’ll dream about that box. It’ll never leave you. Big and little at the same time. Brand-new and ancient and the bluest blue ever. And the times we had, eh? Would had…Never had. In your dreams, they’ll still be there. The Doctor and Amy Pond and the days that never came.
-
In agreement with all the posts here
and it looks like a good find 
!
-
26-06-2007, 03:27 PM #5
aww it wants a hug
Ex-janitor. Might pop in from time to time, otherwise you can grab all my information from http://jamesy.me.uk/
-
looks cute but no doubt abit nasty =]
-
26-06-2007, 05:04 PM #7
lol give it a hug then it puts your whole head in its beak
Ex-janitor. Might pop in from time to time, otherwise you can grab all my information from http://jamesy.me.uk/
-
It's head looks weird. It's as if they cut the head off a normal penguin and replaced it with a flamingos...
LEFT
FOM & FOW
If you need me, feel free to PM me here for contact details.
-
It looks like a pelican (sp?) with out the flappy bit of skin in its beak
I’ll be a story in your head, but that’s okay, because we’re all stories in the end. Just make it a good one, eh? Because it was, you know. It was the best. A daft old man who stole a magic box and ran away. Did I ever tell you that I stole it? Well, I borrowed it. I always meant to take it back. Oh, that box, Amy, you’ll dream about that box. It’ll never leave you. Big and little at the same time. Brand-new and ancient and the bluest blue ever. And the times we had, eh? Would had…Never had. In your dreams, they’ll still be there. The Doctor and Amy Pond and the days that never came.
-
wow thats only just smaller than me
Reply With Quote
![[DC]eption's Avatar](customavatars/avatar41212_11.gif){kind=avatar}
Posting Permissions
- You may not post new threads
- You may not post replies
- You may not post attachments
- You may not edit your posts