Ancient giant penguin discovered by children in New Zealand

The long-legged creature named 'waewaeroa - Te reo Māori' could have looked something like this

A fossil, discovered by children in New Zealand, has been identified as an ancient giant penguin.

The exciting find was originally made in 2006 by the Hamilton Junior Naturalist Club (JUNATS), who were on a fossil hunting in Kawhia Harbour.

The bones of the huge creature were then analysed by a team of researchers from Massey University and Bruce Museum in the US.

They used 3D scanning as part of their investigation and compared the fossil to other digital versions of bones from around the world.

Dr Daniel Thomas, a Senior Lecturer in Zoology from Massey's School of Natural and Computational Sciences, says the fossil is between 27.3 and 34.6 million years old and is from a time when much of that part of the world was under water.

He said: "The penguin is similar to the Kairuku giant penguins first described from Otago but has much longer legs, which the researchers used to name the penguin waewaeroa - Te reo Māori for 'long legs."

"These longer legs would have made the penguin much taller than other Kairuku while it was walking on land, perhaps around 1.4 metres tall, and may have influenced how fast it could swim or how deep it could dive.

"It's been a real privilege to contribute to the story of this incredible penguin. We know how important this fossil is to so many people," he adds.

Other huge penguin species have been discovered. This is an artists impression of the 'Plotopterids' - scientists think they were as big as grown men

The team were able to give a 3D replica of the fossilised bones.

Many of the children involved in finding the creature are now grown up, but they say it is something they will remember for the rest of their lives.

Steffan Safey was there for both the discovery and rescue missions. "It's sort of surreal to know that a discovery we made as kids so many years ago is contributing to academia today. And it's a new species, even!

He adds: "The existence of giant penguins in New Zealand is scarcely known, so it's really great to know that the community is continuing to study and learn more about them. Clearly the day spent cutting it out of the sandstone was well spent!"

Alwyn Dale was also part of the unearthing and said it was an "absolute bucket list moment".

"After joining JUNATS there were some pretty iconic stories of amazing finds and special experiences - and excavating a giant penguin fossil has got to be up there! A real testament to all the parents and volunteers who gave their time and resources to make unique and formative memories for the club members." Alwyn said.

The research was led by PhD student Simone Giovanardi, with Dr Daniel Ksepka, Bruce Museum and Dr Daniel Thomas, Massey University.