Tuesday, June 26, 2007

Peruvian prehistoric penguins were taller than Danny Devito

Danny Devito is 4'11" tall. These penguins topped out at 5 feet, and lived during a particularly sweltering time in Earth's history. 36 million years ago Icadyptes salasi plied the waters off the southern coast of Peru.

Rhea Perlman was not available for comment.
Climarazzi has only this picture to verify Scientific American's claim

Update: Science also had the story albeit without the Danny DeVito hook.

"No one predicted that penguins reached the equator before about 10 million years ago," says Clarke, "and here we show them at 42 million years at least." The two newly described species, along with unpublished data indicating the presence of three others, suggest that penguins diversified in the heat, not after chillier temperatures set in.

Lucy Liu was not available for comment.