According to scientists, there are no “real penguins” left anywhere in the world. The original penguins were incredibly similar to modern-day penguins; the only difference was that their beaks were slightly larger and puffier. Despite their similarities, the two species weren’t even closely related. According to National Geographic, fishermen killed the last confirmed penguin pair on Eldey Island in Iceland. Social media users reacted greatly when they learned of the terrible fate of these birds.
Unfortunately, the penguins we know and enjoy watching in nature documentaries are not animals classified as “penguins” by science.
Historically, the tiny feathered penguins we see on screen are a completely different species of bird that are surprisingly similar to real penguins.
These small flightless birds were incredibly similar to today’s penguins, except that their beaks were a little larger and more bulbous.
Despite their similarities, these birds were not actually closely related to modern penguins.
They were popular for meat and bait for hundreds of years, and their body parts, such as fat, eggs and feathers, were also sold as goods.
By the 1770s, overfishing of these birds began to threaten the species. As its population declined, museums and collectors wanted to keep a piece of the animal as proof of its existence.
When they lived, they were found in Canada, Greenland, Iceland, the British Isles and Scandinavia.
If they were still alive today, they would be everywhere. They have also managed to spread in the Western Atlantic Ocean, the Eastern Atlantic Ocean and as far as Southern Spain and New England in the USA.
“I visited the national history museum in Denmark with my child and saw the last stuffed penguin killed by a human,” wrote one user.
Another said: “Millions of years of evolution ended in an instant.”
