“Penguins about the size of humans roamed South America some 35 million years ago, and they didn’t need ice to survive.
That’s the result of a new study by North Carolina State University paleontologist Julia Clarke and her colleagues.
The discovery pushes the date of penguin migration to equatorial regions back more than 30 million years, to one of the warmest periods of the last 65 million years.
The find also casts doubt on climate as the main factor in penguins’ choice of habitat through history.
“The public is very familiar with the image of penguins and icebergs,” Clarke said.
Today’s penguins are cold-adapted and therefore at grave risk from global warming, she said, but the new fossils suggest that hasn’t always been true.”
Read more at National Geographic
whoa! where’s batman when ya need him?
What’s black and white and red all over?
An equatorial proto-penguin (with a sunburn…)
May I simply say that this was an excellent choice of picture to accompany this story.
hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm?
hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm?
No doubt the giant penguins were attracted to the area by the seafood. The climate may have changed but the fish are still as tasty as ever.