In 2012, scientists from New Zealand rebuilt the Kairuku penguin, a 27 million year old penguin which stood at nearly 5ft (about 1.5m), making it taller than the emperor penguin.
The first fossil of the Kairuku penguin was found nearly 30 years ago. However, only recently have the scientists been able to reconstruct a model using two separate fossils and the skeleton structure of modern penguins. Unlike their present day cousins, the Kairuku penguins’ hands were slender, they had curvier beaks and the species lived for about 25 million years.
(via AAAS)