Early explorers were quite impressed as they traveled around and discovered these flightless birds. They certainly had never seen anything like them before. It is believed they were first identified around 1490. Many of these explorers documented what they saw and even drew pictures of the penguins to show to others.The credit for finding these penguins and bringing attention to them though is highly debated in the world of history. Many people believe that it is Vasco da Gama that showed proof that they existed; others believe that is was Ferdinand Magellan. This may or may not be true though depending on what history books you read. For example some will say that the Megallanic Penguin was named after him. Yet other history books will tell you that they are named after the Straits of Magellan.The truth is that there is still plenty about the history of penguins that we really don’t know about. We have some of the pieces though and continue to find more all the time. The wholes though are filled in with theories and other information that is possible, yet not yet proven. That is why you will find such conflicting information out there about penguins in history. It comes down to the specific theories that some people are interested in believing while not accepting others.In the mid 1800’s there is documentation of fossils found that fit the description of penguins. These fossils have been studied in great detail but top scientists around the world. They have come to the conclusion that penguins have been on Earth for more than 60 million years. They have concluded that they evolved from earlier forms of birds in order to survive. There are about 40 species of them that have been proven to once live but that are now extinct according to the types of fossils that have been discovered.