A GIGANTIC penguin the size of a man that lived up to 60 million years ago has amazed scientists

Standing 5ft 8ins and weighing 16 stone, it was the same height as an average male - and much heavier than his 13st 3lb.

6 A giant penguin the size of a grown man has been discovered in New Zealand

It was almost twice as tall and more than triple the weight of the Emperor - the largest modern penguin which can grow to 3ft 3ins and tip the scales at 66lbs.

Lead author Dr Gerald Mayr, of the Senckenberg Research Institute in Frankfurt, said the discovery sheds fresh light on the evolution of the iconic flightless seabird.

This latest discovery was made at Hampden Beach in Otago, New Zealand.

Its large size would have allowed it to swim further and dive deeper than today's penguins.

6 The bones of the big bird were dug up on a beach in New Zealand Credit: SWNS:South West News Service

6 The hope is the new find could help boffins piece together the evolution of the flightless birds Credit: SWNS:South West News Service

But the big avian beast would still waddled about when it was on the land.

Named Kumimanu biceae, it lived during the late Palaeocene. Its partial skeleton included a thigh-bone - or femur - measuring more than 6 inches in length.

From this the team could estimate its size - which puts it among the largest penguins found. Only two other species of giant penguins are known from around this time.

Gigantism - a phenomenon in which the size of an ancient species exceeded that of the largest living ones - is a known feature of penguin evolution.

Giant penguins are well documented from between 50 and 20 million years ago - but older ones are rare.

They eventually became extinct following the emergence of whales, dolphins, porpoises and seals that out performed them as predators.

6 Modern day Emperor penguins are the largest on the planet now standing at 4ft tall Credit: Mint Images - Getty

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6 Tiny fairy penguins are the smallest in the world clocking in at just over a foot in height Credit: Getty - Contributor

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Dr Mayr said: "One of the notable features of penguin evolution is the occurrence of very large species in the early Cenozoic whose body size greatly exceeded that of the largest living penguins."

The Cenozoic is from 66 million years ago - when the dinosaurs were wiped out by an asteroid - to the present day.

Dr Mayr said: "Here we describe a new giant species from the late Paleocene of New Zealand that documents the very early evolution of large body size in penguins.

"Kumimanu biceae is larger than all other fossil penguins that have substantial skeletal portions preserved."

The study published in Nature Communications suggests giant penguins evolved independently and early in their existence - soon after the bird's evolutionary transition from flight to diving.

Dr Mayr said: "That a penguin rivaling the largest previously known species existed in the Paleocene suggests gigantism in penguins arose shortly after these birds became ﬂightless divers."

The biggest ever discovered is known as Palaeeudyptes klekowskii - dubbed the 'colossus penguin'.

It was up to 6.63ft (2.02m) in length and lived much later - 37 to 40 million years ago on Antarctica.

As well as the thigh-bone there were parts of three wing-bones, the shoulder-blade, the breast-bone and a leg-bone.

There was also part of the pelvis along with three vertebrae and other bone fragments.

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It was unearthed from a rock formation 186 miles south west of the Waipara River in New Zealand.

The extinction of the dinosaurs and larger marine predators and dinosaurs could have been the ecological driver for the loss of ﬂight capabilities in the earliest penguins.

But the rise of marine mammals appears to have wiped out giant penguins, he added.

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