A red penguin that stands nearly five feet tall. Researchers in Peru have unearthed the fossil of just such a creature, a giant penguin that lived about 36 million years ago.
The fossil, named Inkayacu paracasensis, or Water King, gives researchers their very first look at prehistoric penguins. By examining the specimens pigment cells, scientists determined that the old-school penguins were "reddish brown" not black and white. Inkayacu paracasensis, may have been twice as tall, it was about 1.5m (5ft) tall and nearly twice as heavy as an Emperor Penguin, the largest living species. It had a long, straight beak, much longer than that of its modern relatives.