Awesome science facts for kids

Penguin facts: Here is the most giant penguin in the world with about 4ft 5ins:

A huge penguin that roamed the earth millions of years ago would have dwarfed goal ace Peter Crouch, according to scientists.

The lanky £10million Stoke City striker, 33, stretches the tape at a neck-craning 6ft 7ins, making the 42-cap hitman the tallest player to have ever wore the Three Lions of England.

But fossil boffins at the La Plata Museum in Argentina say an ancient bird dubbed the "colossus penguin” would have had the edge over crazy-legs Crouchie when it comes to reaching for the skies.

The scientists say bones unearthed in the Antarctic – the most complete fossil ever found in the region – prove the giant bird from 37 million years ago could have topped 7ft, firmly putting Abbey Clancy's robot-dancing squeeze in the shade.

The fossil find includes the longest recorded fused ankle-foot bone as well as parts of a wing bone.

Brainboxes say the mega make-up of the big-boned bird would have allowed the winged wonder to stay underwater for a lung-busting 40 minutes.

And from those bones, researchers estimate the extinct species would have stood at 7ft or more from toe to beak tip, and weighed as much as 19 stone.

Skinny striker Crouch weighs in at just 11st 8lbs while the average British man measures up at just 5ft 10ins.

The tallest living species of penguin, the emperor, is usually around the 4ft 5ins mark.

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