Pachydyptes is an extinct genus

Genus

In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...

 of penguin. It contains the single species Pachydyptes ponderosus, the New Zealand Giant Penguin. This taxon is known from a few bones from Late Eocene

Eocene

The Eocene Epoch, lasting from about 56 to 34 million years ago , is a major division of the geologic timescale and the second epoch of the Paleogene Period in the Cenozoic Era. The Eocene spans the time from the end of the Palaeocene Epoch to the beginning of the Oligocene Epoch. The start of the...

 (37 to 34 MYA) rocks in the area of Otago

Otago

Otago is a region of New Zealand in the south of the South Island. The region covers an area of approximately making it the country's second largest region. The population of Otago is...

.

With a height of 140 to 160 cm (about 5 ft) and weighing around 80 to possibly over 100 kg

Kilogram

The kilogram or kilogramme , also known as the kilo, is the base unit of mass in the International System of Units and is defined as being equal to the mass of the International Prototype Kilogram , which is almost exactly equal to the mass of one liter of water...

, it was the second-tallest penguin ever, surpassed only by Anthropornis nordenskjoeldi

Anthropornis nordenskjoeldi

Anthropornis is a genus of giant penguin that lived 37-45 million years ago, during the Late Eocene and the earliest part of the Oligocene. It reached in height and in weight. Fossils of it have been found on Seymour Island off the coast of Antarctica and in New Zealand...

in height, but probably not in weight.

Pachydyptes was slightly larger than Icadyptes salasi

Icadyptes salasi

Icadyptes salasi was a giant penguin species from the late Eocene period, in the tropics of South America. "Ica" for the Peruvian region where it was found, "dyptes" from the Greek word for diver, and "salasi" for Rodolfo Salas, a noted Peruvian paleontologist.The fossilised remains of the penguin,...

, the best-identified of the giant penguins.

External links

• Wikinews: Students find fossilised giant penguin
• Geocities NatureLand 5218: Information in Japanese, good reconstruction