Pygoscelis Explained

The genus Pygoscelis ("rump-legged") contains three living species of penguins collectively known as "brush-tailed penguins".[1]

Taxonomy

Mitochondrial and nuclear DNA evidence suggests the genus split from other penguins around 38 million years ago, about 2 million years after the ancestors of the genus Aptenodytes. In turn, the Adelie penguins split off from the other members of the genus around 19 million years ago.[2]

Extant species

A 2020 study found that the gentoo penguin may actually comprise a species complex of 4 similar but genetically distinct species: the northern gentoo penguin (P. papua), the southern gentoo penguin (P. ellsworthi), the eastern gentoo penguin (P. taeniata), and the newly-described South Georgia gentoo penguin (P. poncetii).[3] [4] However, in 2021 the International Ornithological Congress recognized these as being subspecies of P. papua.[5]

A study has estimated that there are about 3.79 million pairs of Adélie, 387,000 pairs of gentoo, and 8 million pairs of chinstrap penguins in their particular areas,[6] making up 90% of Antarctic avian biomass.[7]

Fossil species

The latter two are tentatively assigned to this genus.

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Pygoscelis . www.pinguins.info . 2000 . 2016-10-02 . https://web.archive.org/web/20100501202914/http://www.pinguins.info/Engels/Pygoscelis_eng.html . 2010-05-01 . dead .
  2. Baker AJ, Pereira SL, Haddrath OP, Edge KA . 2006. Multiple gene evidence for expansion of extant penguins out of Antarctica due to global cooling . Proc Biol Sci . 273 . 1582. 11–17. 10.1098/rspb.2005.3260. 16519228 . 1560011.
  3. Tyler. Joshua. Bonfitto. Matthew T.. Clucas. Gemma V.. Reddy. Sushma. Younger. Jane L.. 2020. Morphometric and genetic evidence for four species of gentoo penguin. Ecology and Evolution. en. 10. 24. 13836–13846. 10.1002/ece3.6973. 33391684 . 2045-7758. 7771148. 2020EcoEv..1013836T .
  4. Pertierra. Luis R.. Segovia. Nicolás I.. Noll. Daly. Martinez. Pablo A.. Pliscoff. Patricio. Barbosa. Andrés. Aragón. Pedro. Rey. Andrea Raya. Pistorius. Pierre. Trathan. Phil. Polanowski. Andrea. 2020. Cryptic speciation in gentoo penguins is driven by geographic isolation and regional marine conditions: Unforeseen vulnerabilities to global change. Diversity and Distributions. en. 26. 8. 958–975. 10.1111/ddi.13072. 1472-4642. free. 2020DivDi..26..958P . 11336/141106. free.
  5. Web site: Kagu, Sunbittern, tropicbirds, loons, penguins – IOC World Bird List . 2022-06-11 . en-US.
  6. Black. Caitlin E.. 2016-03-01. A comprehensive review of the phenology of Pygoscelis penguins. Polar Biology. en. 39. 3. 405–432. 10.1007/s00300-015-1807-8. 2016PoBio..39..405B . 253810985 . 1432-2056.
  7. Book: Williams, Tony D. . The penguins: Spheniscidae . 1995 . Oxford Univ. Press . 978-0-19-854667-2 . Bird families of the world . Oxford . 137.

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