Today’s Feature Story for World Penguin Day is from respected Antarctic penguin expert David Ainley ~ Ed.
Penguins have been around on Earth for a long time. The first ones appeared in the geologic record 65 million years ago just after the mass extinction of animals (including dinosaurs) that ended the Cretaceous Period. Many reptilian species that had been their competitors had disappeared. Quickly, geologically speaking, penguins radiated into more than 50 different species, ranging in size from ones similar in size to the smallest one present now (Little Penguin, 1/3 m tall, 1200 g) to ones much larger than the largest now (Emperor Penguin, 1 m tall, 35 kg), that is, an ancient penguin that was 1.8 m tall and 80 kg.…