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Did you know it’s Penguin Awareness day? Please be aware of the following penguin: 

In 2006, schoolkids in New Zealand discovered the fossilized remains of a penguin the size of a 10-year-old child. The giant bird turns out to be a new species of penguin that, thanks to its long legs, was taller than any of its modern relatives.

Simone Giovanardi at Massey University in Auckland, New Zealand, and his colleagues compared the fossil with digital versions of bones of dozens of types of penguin. The analysis revealed that the remains belong to a new species that was similar in appearance to giant prehistoric penguins in the genus Kairuku, but had much longer legs. The researchers named the species Kairuku waewaeroa (artist’s impression pictured); the second part of the name is Māori for long legs.

Standing about 1.38 metres tall, the leggy bird was taller than other ancient giant penguins, as well as the tallest modern penguin, the 1.2-metre tall emperor (Aptenodytes forsteri). It lived some 30 million years ago, when much of New Zealand’s upper North Island, where the fossil was found, was under water.

The findings could help researchers to understand the evolution of penguins, the authors say.