Lifestyle

Fossil hunters have unearthed a giant prehistoric penguin that roamed the earth more than 36 million years ago.

Named ‘The Water King’, it was twice the size of modern penguins and was covered in red and brown feathers.

In contrast to its modern day descendants, the giant penguin lived in the tropics, swimming in warmer seas and using its seven-inch spear-like beak to hunt for fish.

The fossilised remains of the flightless bird were found by a Peruvian student in the Paracas Reserve on Peru’s eastern coastline.