Evolution

Where the Galapagos penguins come from? 

The whole penguin' species was originated along the coasts of Australia, New Zealand and nearby islands of the South Pacific, this happened 22 million years ago. The ancestors of the king and emperor penguins separated from the other penguins and then moved to sub-Antarctic and Antarctic waters, due to the abundant food source of the waters. All the other penguins move in all  the southern oceans taking advantage that the Drake's Passage between Antarctica and the southern tip of South America opened around 12 million years ago. Due to the Circumpolar current the penguins were allowed to swim with the ocean currents across all the southern ocean in this way they populate the cold sub-Antarctic islands and the warmer coastal areas of South America (Galapagos islands) and Africa,

The Kumimanu fordycei was the largest penguin that ever exist weighted 340 pounds, it was living in New Zealand more than 50 millions years ago. Before the Kumimanu fordycei, the Palaeeudyptes klekowskii was the the largest penguin in the records, it  lived around 37 million years ago in Antarctica, and weighed 256 pounds, its length was around 6.6 feet tall, a/k/a  the "colossus penguin." The 3rd place is for the K biceae, that weighed around 267 pounds and and had a body length of  5.8 feet. Researched estimated the weight of the penguin based on size and density of bones.

The oldest penguin fossil ever found dated 62 millions years old in New Zealand; since then the penguins evolved from one common ancestor the Waimanu manneringi; the modern Galapagos penguin developed  adaptations related to underwater vision, long dives, body temperature regulation, diet, coloration , and body size in order to adapt to the Galapagos Islands environment. There is not much information regarding the Galapagos penguin evolution, but in general “penguins’ evolutionary rate is the lowest among birds”. The penguin first evolved from flying to diving in order to adapt to the marine life.  The Galapagos penguin evolved reducing it size and amount of feathers in order to help to keep it cool; moreover, the Galapagos penguin changed its behavior and breeding cycle in order to adapt to the challenges of the Galapagos land. Galapagos penguin ancestors in chronological order are. The genus Waimanu , or " Penguin one" (.9 m tall) who live 62 millions years ago , followed by the genus Perudyptes (.9 m tall) who lived 42 millions years ago, then the penguin that gave rise to the biggest species that appeared about 37-40 millions years ago the genus Palaeeudyptes (1.6 m tall). Around 38 millions years ago, the genus Pygoscelis generated 3 living penguins: gentoo penguins, Adélie penguins, and chinstrap penguins who is believed to be the most recent ancestor of the Galápagos, Humboldt, Magellanic and African penguins.All the ancestors were already adapted to the marine life, and did not fly any longer.

It took millions of years for the penguins to be capable to occupy diverse habitats around the world with a wide range of temperatures from negative temperatures in Antarctica to 79 Fahrenheit in the Galapagos islands part pf the earth with.