Early Penguins
Penguins are an ancient order of birds dating back to the time of the dinosaurs. 55 million years ago, penguins had already evolved to be flightless and were adapted to live in the ocean. Scientists believe that penguins evolved from an ancestor that could fly, and that the transistion took place about 65 million years ago (around the time dinosaurs appeared). Once the penguins no longer needed to fly, their bodies could get much larger than other birds. From 40 to 25 million years ago, penguins were the dominant warm-blooded predators of fish, krill, and squid. Back then, there were about 40 species of penguins (there are 17 species now), and almost 1/2 of the species were larger than the emporer penguin, the largest species today. However, penguins eventually had to compete against small toothed whales, seals, and sea lions. These predators outcompeted the larger species of penguins, so only the smaller ones live today.
The common dolphin is one of the small toothed whales
that led to the disapearance of larger penguins.
One of the largest early penguins was the Anthropornis nordenskjoeldi,
which was up to 5 ft. 7 inches tall and possibly as much as 300 pounds.
