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jclua001 t1_j7so8n3 wrote

Reply to comment by bigwavedave000 in New species identified, from 3D models of prehistoric penguins’ humongous humerus, may be the largest penguin ever to have lived. ~350-pound ‘Kumimanu fordycei’ weighed as much as an adult gorilla; waded the waters off New Zealand about 60 million years ago by marketrent

Abundance of food? Takes alot of calories for a gorilla sized penguin to roll

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bigwavedave000 t1_j7sog1f wrote

I was thinking along the lines of more oxygen in the air or something fundamental. Theres lots of food now.

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clay12340 t1_j7sxqrl wrote

This is the leading theory. Higher levels of oxygen and huge land masses free of human development to roam on.

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HobgoblinKhanate1 t1_j7tjwtn wrote

It was always normal to have big animals we just killed most of them

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sewankambo t1_j7ul4v7 wrote

Yeah we killed the giant penguin 60 million years ago.

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HobgoblinKhanate1 t1_j7ur0rx wrote

I’m not talking about the giant penguin specifically. More large mammals than this have existed before and since

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CMGS1031 t1_j7w0ere wrote

And less less than 1% of them were killed by humans.

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_Rollins_ t1_j7styg3 wrote

I think it was actually an abundance of carbon dioxide?

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autoantinatalist t1_j7tdvyl wrote

Carbon dioxide is plants. They used to be more huge too

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OfLittleToNoValue t1_j7u2a1n wrote

The first trees would grow 100m straight up without branches. The earth was actually covered by fallen trees for millions of years before the bacteria that break them down evolved.

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DeepSpaceNebulae t1_j7ulxl8 wrote

The Carboniferous period, names after the massive coal (carbon) deposits we discovered all around the world from those trees

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