I’ve been interested in palaeontology ever since I saw Walking with Dinosaurs when I was younger. I used to have common daydreams of me as a palaeontologist sometimes. I would specialise in dinosaurs/animals from the south, or else strictly Australia.
Australia is basically the wild west of palaeontology. While countless dinosaurs have been discovered in North America, a minimal amount in comparison have been found in Australia. When I was younger, seeing the large variety of dinosaurs known, especially in America as well as China and others, I started wondering about Australia, expecting the same.
Not mention that sea level isn’t something they generally show on the ancient maps, and is something else I’ve wondered about ever since I learned that America was underwater in a large portion from Texas up to Canada at one point. That’s another thing about Australia I really want to know about. And I don’t just mean at one point; I want to know it all.
I never even considered New Zealand.
By Offeiriad, Staff News Writer
Fossilised remains of one of the largest penguinsever, an “elegant” giant standing 1.3 metres (52 inches) tall, have been found in New Zealand, scientists said Tuesday.
The penguin lived 27-24 million years ago, when New Zealand was mostly underwater and consisted of isolated, rocky outcrops that offered protection from predators and plentiful food supplies, researchers said.
The first traces of the penguin, dubbed Kairuku — Maori for diver who returns with food — were found embedded in a cliff at Waimate in the South Island by University of Otago paleontologist professor Ewen Fordyce in 1977.
Over the years, Fordyce discovered more complete remains and invited University of North Carolina specialist Dan Ksepka to help reconstruct the lost giant in 2009.
They determined the bird was much larger than the biggest modern penguin, the Emperor, which grows up to 1.0-metres, and weighed in at 60…
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littlewonder2 
March 7, 2012 at 1:20 pm
As a bit of a palaeonerd myself, I’m familiar with the surprising rarity of Australasian dinosaurs. It sometimes seems like there’s an air of desperation in some Australian researchers, with scant remains being identified as potential allosaurs, ornithomimosaurs or ceratopsians (though to be fair, that practice isn’t limited to Australian researchers). That said, Australia and New Zealand have been hope to some pretty spectacular non-dinosaurian forms, such as Megalania, Thylacoleo, giant carnivorous kangaroos, drop crocs, moas and the Haast’s Eagle. And now, giant penguins! And the real bonus is, you can now legitimately claim the last three as types of dinosaur!
March 7, 2012 at 6:10 pm
I don’t really think crocs are the same thing as dinosaurs. All the sources I’ve ever heard of say that though they may look similar, they’re separate species. Although, I suppose I can see your point, as they are connected in a way.
As far as I’ve been able to tell, dinosaurs are basically the missing link between crocodiles and birds. In fact, I once saw a doco called ‘When Crocs Ate Dinosaurs’.
As for moas and Haast’s Eagles, I’ll have to look those up now…
March 23, 2012 at 10:37 pm
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