Fossil penguins shed light on bird evolution

Researchers who have studied a New Zealand fossil penguin may have provided new evidence for the theory that modern birds evolved among dinosaurs.

Otago University palaeontologists have studied and named the new Waimanu genus of ancient penguins, which lived in the shallow seas off eastern New Zealand between 60 and 62 million years ago.

They said the work helped refute the "Big Bang" theory that modern bird groups did not emerge until after the dinosaurs were wiped out - probably because of a meteorite - 65 million years ago.

The fossilised penguins - found at the Waipara River in Canterbury in the 1980s - are the oldest yet reported, said Associate Professor Ewan Fordyce, of the university's geology department.

By using the age of the fossil penguins as a reference point, and then examining the birds' evolutionary relationships through studying their DNA, the researchers were able to establish a new timeframe for the branching out of modern birds.

Professor Fordyce said: "As these early penguins lived in southern seas not long after the extinction of dinosaurs, then other, more distantly related bird groups must have been established even earlier."

- NZPA