Paleontologists have discovered the fossilized remains of a fearsome new species of penguin that lived on the southern coast of Peru about 36 million years ago.
The ancient bird, Icadyptes salasi, stood 1.5m tall and had a pointed 18cm beak which it probably used to spear its prey.
The now extinct penguin species is one of the largest ever reported and was recovered from the coastal desert of Peru.
PHOTO: EPA
Paleontologists also discovered the skull and partial skeleton of a second extinct penguin species, called Perudyptes devriesi, in the same region.
The penguin fossils are among the most complete ever recovered. Paleontologists and students of the penguin lineage had assumed that penguins evolved in colder climates in the Antarctic and in New Zealand and had only moved closer to the equator about 10 million years ago - long after significant global cooling about 34 million years ago.
"We tend to think of penguins as being cold-adapted species," said Julia Clarke, a paleontologist and assistant professor of marine, Earth and atmospheric sciences at North Carolina State University, in Raleigh.
PHOTO: AP
But the new fossils date back to one of the warmest periods in 65 million years of Earth's history. What's more, paleontologists generally assume that species moving from cold to warm climates become smaller as the animals do not need to conserve heat.
It's all the more surprising, then, to find giant penguin fossils close to the Earth's equator, especially during the waning days of a greenhouse Earth, the authors of the study noted.
一群古生物學家發現了三千六百萬年前生活在祕魯南海岸的新品種企鵝化石遺跡。
這種名為「Icadyptes salasi」的古代企鵝高達一點五公尺，十八公分長的尖喙可能是啄食獵物用的。
現今已絕種的這種企鵝是全球體型最大、也是在祕魯海岸沙漠出土的企鵝品種之一。
古生物學家也在同一個地區，發現了另一種已絕跡的「Perudyptes devriesi」企鵝頭顱與部分遺骸。
這些化石可說是迄今已出土的最完整企鵝化石。古生物學家與專門研究企鵝的學生都認為，企鵝是從南極與紐西蘭等較冷的氣候環境進化，約一千萬年前才遷徙到更靠近赤道的地方，遠較三千四百萬年前全球氣溫大幅降低的時代晚。
北卡羅萊納大學羅雷校區的古生物學家暨海洋、地球與大氣科學系助理教授茱莉亞．克拉克說︰「我們傾向認為，企鵝是適應寒帶的生物。」
不過，這些新的化石卻可追溯到地球六千五百年歷史的某一個最溫暖時期。此外，古生物學家普遍認為，從寒帶遷徙到溫暖氣候的物種由於不需貯存熱能，體型會變小。
這份研究的作者群指出，最驚人的要屬在靠近赤道的地方發現了這些巨型企鵝化石，尤其當時屬地球溫暖時期即將結束的年代。（翻譯︰賴美君）
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