Why was the diet of large penguins like *Icadyptes* highly likely dominated by fish rather than small crustaceans?
Answer
Fish provide a high energy return for the diving effort
The diet was likely dominated by fish because they provide a high energy return necessary to fuel the large body mass, especially compared to small, low-energy crustaceans.
Related Questions
During which geological epoch did the extinct penguin *Icadyptes* primarily inhabit the seas of modern New Zealand?What primary feature of fossil remains is used as the most direct proxy for reconstructing the feeding habits of *Icadyptes*?What feeding strategy might a relatively long, slender bill in a fossil penguin lineage suggest?What implication arises from the presence of other contemporaneous giant penguins, such as *Palaeeudyptes*, coexisting with *Icadyptes*?Why was the diet of large penguins like *Icadyptes* highly likely dominated by fish rather than small crustaceans?What adaptation, fundamental to all penguins, helps them grip slippery prey like fish once captured underwater?What does the paddle-like wing structure evidence imply about the hunting method of *Icadyptes*?What is the primary function of bill disparity analysis in paleontology concerning extinct penguins?What would a proportionally shorter and deeper bill in *Icadyptes* suggest about its prey handling strategy compared to a very long, slender bill?What factor is critical in determining the potential maximum prey size a bird can capture and swallow, according to bill morphology analysis?To fuel their inferred large body mass, what requirement did the caloric needs of *Icadyptes* necessitate regarding their hunting success?