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Giant Penguins Once Roamed Peru
Douglas Roberts points out as "obvious Linux fodder" the coverage of a study just published in PNAS claiming that, on fossil evidence, giant penguins once stalked the plains of Peru. One species goes back over 40 million years and its members were as large as modern king penguins. They were warm adapted. Members of another species, 30 million years ago, stood 5 feet high and made their living spearfishing with their 1-foot beaks. Here's an artist's impression.
OK, anyone who wants some more penguin info can check out my sig and the associated FAQ... I just want to add that this is not the first time that penguin fossils are discovered, and some larger than the Emperor penguins (actual largest species) are known.
Non-Linux Penguins ?
not neccesarily. They fished so the exact same colour scheme would have been effective for exactly the same reasons. Penguins are not black and white to protect themselves from land predators, but from sea based ones. Nor are they white underneath because of there being ice above them, since benguins that rarely go near iced up seas are also white on their bellies.
Aside from that, their primary defense in water is the ability to swim jolly fast, not hide. On land they wouldn't be able to get up to anything more then a frantic waddle. No matter what colour you are that's not going to be helpful. Escape to water is about the only thing that'd work.
Reality is that which, when we cease to believe in it, still exists. - Philip K Dick
The graphic in the NG is just screaming out for a caption - any ideas?
Why was everything in the past so big? Just about all the animals were bigger at some previous point.
Is this the natural selection process or something? Things start small then being big is an advantage so things just keep getting bigger and bigger until it collapses with a medium size winning out?