Kingdom Animalia Order Sphenisciformes Genus Palaeeudyptes Phylum Chordata | Class Aves Family Spheniscidae Scientific name Palaeeudyptes klekowskii Rank Species | |
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Similar Palaeeudyptes, Anthropornis, Icadyptes salasi, Palaeeudyptinae, Attercopus | ||
Palaeeudyptes klekowskii, also known as the colossus penguin, was a species of the extinct penguin genus Palaeeudyptes. It was until recently thought to have been approximately the size of its congener Palaeeudyptes antarcticus, which would mean it was somewhat larger than the modern emperor penguin, but a new study shows it was in fact almost twice as tall. It is known from an extensive collection of fossil bones from the Late Eocene (34-37 MYA) of the La Meseta Formation on Seymour Island, Antarctica. P. klekowskii was at first not recognized as a distinct species, and despite the coexistence of two so closely related species of similar size as Palaeeudyptes gunnari and P. klekowskii seeming somewhat improbable, the amount of fossil material suggests that the two species are indeed diagnosably different.