Why was the relative lack of marine predators in the Paleocene significant for Waimanu?
Answer
It provided an environment where high-speed swimming was not critically dependent on extreme streamlining
The Paleocene world was in a state of recovery following the mass extinction of the Cretaceous period, which resulted in the temporary absence of the large marine predators that characterized earlier eras. This lack of intense predatory pressure meant that Waimanu did not face the same immediate evolutionary necessity for the hyper-efficient, hydrodynamic body shape seen in later penguins, allowing it to survive with less specialized swimming capabilities.
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