Anthropornis nordenskjoeldi
- Anthropornis nordenskjoeldi
Taxobox
name = Nordenskjoeld's Giant Penguin
fossil_range = Late Eocene – Early Oligocene
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Aves
ordo = Sphenisciformes
familia = Spheniscidae
genus = "Anthropornis"
species = "A. nordenskjoeldi"
binomial = "Anthropornis nordenskjoeldi"
binomial_authority = Wiman, 1905
"Anthropornis nordenskjoeldi", or Nordenskjoeld's Giant Penguin, was a penguin species that lived 45–37 million years ago, during the Late Eocene and the earliest part of the Oligocene. It reached m to ft in|1.7 in height and Kg to lb|90 in weight. Fossils of it have been found on Seymour Island off the coast of Antarctica and in New Zealand. By comparison, the largest modern penguin species, the Emperor Penguin, is just m to ft in|1.2 tall.
"Anthropornis nordenskjoeldi" had a bent joint in the wing; this indicates a carryover from its flying ancestors. Penguins were descended from grebe or loon-like ancestors, and became flightless as they became full-time swimmers.
Trivia
The giant blind albino penguins in H. P. Lovecraft's 1931 novel "At the Mountains of Madness" were fictional cave-dwelling descendants of this bird.
References
The Annotated H. P. Lovecraft, edited by S. T. Joshi
Wikimedia Foundation.
2010.
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