Why might *Waimanu* have specialized in consuming larger prey items compared to modern smaller penguins?
Answer
Its immense bulk necessitated high-calorie meals to fuel its metabolism and swimming efforts
The sheer size and mass of *Waimanu* required a proportionally higher caloric reward per hunt, suggesting a focus on larger, energy-rich meals or cephalopods.
Related Questions
During which geological epoch did the giant flightless bird lineage, *Waimanu*, thrive?How did the size of the best-known *Waimanu* species compare to the modern Emperor Penguin?What structural feature was characteristic of *Waimanu* regarding its locomotion?What components typically form the primary diet of modern penguins, serving as a baseline for *Waimanu* inference?What is the highly probable core diet inferred for *Waimanu* based on its position in evolutionary history?Why might *Waimanu* have specialized in consuming larger prey items compared to modern smaller penguins?What direct fossil evidence confirming the exact menu of *Waimanu* is currently absent from primary discoveries?What characteristic defined the marine environment *Waimanu* inhabited during the Eocene?What dietary shift occurred in the food web that seemed to favor the evolution of smaller, later penguin species?What general descriptor applies to the hunting style of modern penguins, which *Waimanu*'s descendants adopted?