( CNN ) -- Penguins did n't always come in black and white , paleontologists said Thursday , citing the discovery of a 36-million-year-old fossil of a bird that , in its day , waddled nearly 5 feet tall . A specimen found in Peru showed that at least some of the giant penguin 's feathers were reddish brown and gray , said a University of Texas at Austin paleontologist who was the lead author of a paper appearing in Thursday 's online edition of the journal Science . The new species , `` Inkayacu paracasensis , '' or `` Water King , '' was bigger than the Emperor penguin , the largest living penguin now . `` Before this fossil , we had no evidence about the feathers , colors and flipper shapes of ancient penguins . We had questions and this was our first chance to start answering them , '' paleontologist Julia Clarke said in a statement . The color pattern of living penguins is a more recent innovation , said scientists . The fossil shows the flipper and feather shapes that evolved early to make them such powerful swimmers . The fossil also has preserved evidence of scales and feathers . Bird feathers get some of their colors from the size , shape and arrangement of nanoscale structures called melanosomes , the report said . Modern penguins and the fossil differed in the formation of melanosomes . Inkayacu paracasensis was discovered in 2007 by Peruvian student Ali Altamirano in Paracas National Reserve , researchers said . The National Geographic Society , which along with the National Science Foundation , provided funding for the research , said it 's not exactly clear why modern penguins come in black and white . Perhaps it was a response to the rise of new penguin predators , such as seals , said Clarke , according to National Geographic . In a phenomenon called countershading , modern penguins ' white bellies camouflage the birds against the sky , at least from the vantage point of a swimming predator looking up . To a predator looking down , a penguin 's black back vaguely matches the dark depths below .
Fossil of giant bird found in Peru . Strong swimmer had reddish brown and gray feathers .