​Fossilised long-legged giant penguin identified as new species

Skeleton found by children in New Zealand helps fill in gaps in natural historyIn January 2006 a group of children in summer camp in Waikato, New Zealand, went on a fossil-hunting field trip with a seasoned archaeologist. They kayaked to the upper Kawhia harbour, a hotspot for this sort of activity, and they expected to find fossils of shellfish and the like, as they regularly did on theseHamilton junior naturalist club expeditions.But on this day, just before heading home, close to where they ’d left the kayaks and well below the high tide mark, they noticed a trace of fossils that looked like much more than prehistoric crustaceans. After careful extraction, an archaeologist later identified it as the most complete fossilised skeleton of an ancient giant penguin yet uncovered.Continue reading...
Source: Guardian Unlimited Science - Category: Science Authors: Tags: Palaeontology Fossils Evolution Science New Zealand Asia Pacific World news Birds Animals Environment Source Type: news