New Zealand giant penguin
Pachydyptes ponderosus Oliver, 1930
New Zealand giant penguin Holotype. Specimen registration no. OR.001450; image no. MA_I064698. Fortification Hill, Oamaru, December 1899. Image © Te Papa.
See Te Papa website: https://collections.tepapa.govt.nz/object/314425
Species information
W.R.B. (Reginald) Oliver described this, the most massive of all penguins, based on a large humerus found by Charles Traill at Fortification Hill, Oamaru before 1870 (note that Oliver p.86 incorrectly labelled the figure as a femur). The specimen is considered to be of Late Eocene age (36-34.5 million-years-old). Although not mentioned by Oliver, a coracoid and metacarpus are associated with the holotype humerus.
The humerus is 175.8 mm long, which is slightly shorter than that for Grebneff’s penguin (176.6 mm) but it is much more robust. The New Zealand giant penguin was estimated to be 1.3 metres tall and up to 80 kg in weight.
The genus name means stout diver, and the species name means weighty.
The holotype (NMNZ OR.1450) and associated coracoid and metacarpus are in Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa. Two part humeri attributed to this species are held in Otago Museum.
Weblinks
http://fossilpenguins.wordpress.com/2010/02/22/68/
http://fossilpenguins.wordpress.com/2012/03/01/record-breaking-penguins-the-tallest-penguin-ever/
References
Oliver, W.R.B. 1930. New Zealand birds. Wellington, Fine Arts.
Simpson, G.G. 1971. A review of the pre-Pliocene penguins of New Zealand. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 144: 319-378.
Recommended citation
Miskelly, C.M. 2013 [updated 2022]. New Zealand giant penguin. In Miskelly, C.M. (ed.) New Zealand Birds Online. www.nzbirdsonline.org.nz
Breeding and ecology
New Zealand giant penguin
No data available.
Identification
An extinct giant penguin species known from fossil bones that was estimated to be 1.3 metres tall and up to 80 kg in weight. The genus name means stout diver, and the species name means weighty.
