Giant penguins patrol the southern seas
Anthropornis stands as tall as a person and hunts in seas with no seals and no toothed whales.
- When
- —
- Duration
- 11 million years
- Known to
- ± 3 million years
- Era
- Eocene, Cenozoic
Late Eocene deposits in Antarctica, New Zealand, Peru and Patagonia yield penguins far larger than any living species — Anthropornis and Palaeeudyptes approaching 1.7 metres and 80 kilograms. They flourish because the marine predator guild is still empty after the mosasaurs and before the seals and odontocete whales. Their long straight spear-like beaks differ from the hooked bills of modern penguins, suggesting a different hunting style. When pinnipeds and toothed whales arrive, the giants disappear.