‘Pint-sized, ‘ridiculously cute’ penguins waddled around 3 million years ago, study says
About 3 million years ago, a species of tiny penguins waddled around the islands of New Zealand.
The aquatic birds, which were as light as a quart of milk, were smaller than any living species of penguin at the time, according to a study published in the Journal of Paleontology on June 21 and a blog post from one of the study’s authors.
The “pint-sized” penguins were “ridiculously cute,” study author Daniel Ksepka wrote of the newfound species.
The previously undocumented ancient creatures were discovered after two fossilized skulls were unearthed on the North Island of New Zealand.
The nearly intact skulls, found under layers of sediment, were then analyzed by researchers at Massey University, according to a university news release.
Upon examination, researchers determined that the partial skeletons belonged to a distinct new species of little penguin.
The diminutive birds, the second-smallest penguin species ever recorded, were named Eudyptula wilsonae after renowned ornithologist Kerry-Jayne Wilson.
Though they lived millions of years ago, they are strikingly similar to their living descendants, known as the New Zealand little penguin (also called kororā) and the Australian little penguin, researchers said.
“These newly discovered fossils show little penguins like kororā have been part of coastal ecosystems of Zealandia for at least three million years,” Daniel Thomas, one of the study’s authors, said in the news release. “The climate has changed a lot over this time and this lineage has been robust to those changes.”
Penguins were long thought to have originated in Antarctica, but a 2020 study published in the journal PNAS found that the flightless, swimming birds first arose in New Zealand and Australia.
Today, nearly three-quarters of the world’s penguin species are present in and around New Zealand, according to the country’s department of conservation.
This story was originally published July 18, 2023 at 11:08 AM with the headline "‘Pint-sized, ‘ridiculously cute’ penguins waddled around 3 million years ago, study says."