Penguins - Big and Small
Narayani Subramanian
Everyone is familiar with penguins, the cute flightless birds that waddle around in their icy habitats. The exact number of living penguin species is a topic of high controversy among taxonomists and the number ranges from 17 to 20 species, including the most famous Emperor Penguin, King Penguin and the Galapagos Penguin. The evolutionary history of penguins is very well studied and there are even genomic studies to confirm the data from evolutionary research. Now, some exciting new findings have come up in penguin evolutionary history. 
A team of scientists including Daniel Thomas, Daniel Ksepka and Alan Tennyson in New Zealand have unearthed two different sets of Penguin fossils from New Zealand in the past six months. The first discovery provided the fossil evidence for the largest ever penguin, while the second discovery has confirmed the existence of the smallest Penguin species! Yes! From the same team!
Largest Penguin species
The scientists unearthed a set of bones from a giant penguin fossil in New Zealand in February 2023. They named in Kumimanu fordycei. It roamed the Earth 50 million years ago. Weighing about 150 kilograms, it now holds the record for lthe argest penguin ever! Please take a look at the picture next to a human being for scale to understand how big it was!
It is said that many giant penguins were found in Australia and New Zealand after the extinction of Dinosaurs. Their large body size could have helped them in warding off predators and also in conserving heat inside cold waters while migrating to other parts of the world. These are just hypotheses as of now and the scientists are conducting studies to confirm them. 
The Kumimanu penguin had some interesting features. Compared to the modern penguins whose filppers are completely adapted to swimming, the Kumimanu's flippers were primitive. This is probably because these are ancient species that still had retained some characteristics from its flying bird ancestors. 
Smallest Penguin species
The same team unearthed a set of fossil skulls, one from an adult bird and one from a baby bird in New Zealand in June 2023. A complete analyses of the skulls showed that they could belong to an entirely new penguin species. Named “Wilson's penguins”, this species is the smallest penguin to ever roam the Earth. Weighing less than a kilogram, standing only a foot tall, these tiny little birds were found in New Zealand roughly three million years ago.
Though these tiny birds are extinct, they have living relatives! Korora or Little Blue penguins are found almost all over the New Zealand Coast. They weigh 1.5 kg and are slightly taller than their extinct relatatives. 
Why are these findings important?
Fossil studies provide a lot of data about extinction patterns of species. We will be able to learn what helped them survive and what pushed them to extinction. As the environment is getting degraded everyday, we have to understand what drives a species to endangerment and extinction. This is especially important when we consider climate change. 
For example, little penguin species were always considered to be hardy species that can withstand a wide range of environmental patterns. But recent incidents show that they are also becoming vulnerable to the changing ecosystems. Prehistoric studies like these can help in creating a “Biodiversity forecast” of what could happen to the ecosystem in the future. 
Do you like penguins? What is their most interesting quality according to you? Write to JM and let us know.