Research from 17 South African fossil fragments has shown that scientists at the National Museum of Natural History in the UKabout 12 million years ago four different species of penguins livedon the shores of Africa.
As explained by the authors of the study, published inLinnean Society, the shawl bone fragments correspond to parts of the spine, sternum, wings and legs of various extinct species of penguins. Thanks to these fossils it is now known that these species spanned almost the entire spectrum of known sizes,from a tiny 0.3 meter tall penguin to a species of about 0.9 meter. In addition, the find is the oldest evidence of these birds in Africa.
Currently, only one species of penguins continues to inhabit Africa. It is about the African penguin (Spheniscus demersus), also know ascape penguin, classified as an endangered species since 2010. According to experts, the number of these birds has decreased by 80 percent in the last 50 years and this situation is mainly due to oil spills and overfishing of sardines and anchovies, the favorite food of this animal.
However, scientists are not so clear about lThe reasons for the extinction of prehistoric penguins. Gaps in the fossil record make it difficult to determine whether the disappearances of these species were sudden or gradual. “We have fossils from 5-7 million years ago and others from 10-12 million years ago, but we do not know what happened in between,” explained one of the authors of the research, Daniel Thomas, who has pointed out that “probably the human being is not to blame, as modern humans came to South Africa when these penguins had already disappeared. ” Among the causes that are considered, the most likely, according to scientists, is thatthe rise and fall of the sea level ended up eliminating safe places for nesting. Although penguins spend most of their lives swimming in the ocean, they use offshore islands to build their nests and raise their chicks.
