Icadyptes Pronunciation
Picture, name meaning, and how to say Icadyptes. Free guide for kids and parents.
How to Pronounce Icadyptes
ih-KAH-dip-teez
ALL CAPS = stressed syllable
What does Icadyptes mean?
ancient diver from the tropics
Name Roots
"ica"
from Ica, the coastal region of Peru where fossils were found, a place-name root
"dyptes"
diver, from Ancient Greek dyptēs, referring to the penguin family's diving lifestyle
Fun Facts
- ✓Icadyptes lived approximately 36 million years ago in what is now the Peruvian desert, making it one of the oldest giant penguins ever discovered in South America.
- ✓Its beak measured roughly 18 centimeters long, proportionally longer and more lance-like than any living penguin species, likely used to spear large fish at close range.
- ✓Icadyptes stood roughly 1.5 meters tall, about the height of an average 12-year-old human, making it one of the tallest penguins ever to walk the Earth.
- ✓Scientists were stunned when fossils were described in 2007 because Icadyptes proved that giant penguins colonized tropical latitudes near the equator tens of millions of years earlier than anyone had predicted.
- ✓The fossils were so well preserved that researchers could study the detailed structure of its feathers, revealing that ancient giant penguins had long, narrow feathers quite unlike the short, scale-like plumage of modern penguins.
