Saturday Night Social: When Monster Penguins Ruled the Seas

In days long past, penguins the size of humans swam the seas and waddled its shores, no doubt as majestic as they were tall.

Yes, I know last week was also a penguin-themed SNS, but this big-ass penguin thigh, and the flocks of large, doofy birds it suggests, is just too glorious to ignore. Researchers in New Zealand have discovered the fossil of a penguin they believe to have been around five feet, two inches tall and about 176 pounds, judging from the size of its leg bone. That would make the Crossvallia waiparensis about a foot taller than the already goodly-sized emperor penguin.

Scientists believe that giant penguins took over in the Palaeocene era, ruling the warm seas after dinosaurs and big lizards had their day. I mourn the chonky penguins that were and hope for their return upon human’s imminent extinction on a planet that is most likely rapidly approaching temperatures conducive to avian hyper-development.