#Penguin natural predators Patch

Chicks have grey backs with white fronts. It has pale whitish-pink, webbed feet and a fairly long tail – the most prominent tail of all penguin species. The gentoo penguin is easily recognised by the wide, white stripe extending like a bonnet across the top of its head and its bright orange-red bill. Description Saunders Island, Falkland Islands The International Ornithological Congress incorporated the results of this study in 2021, but relegated the newly recognized or newly described species to being subspecies of P. taeniata) and the newly described South Georgia gentoo penguin ( P. ellsworthi), the eastern gentoo penguin ( P. papua sensu stricto), the southern gentoo penguin ( P. However, a 2020 study suggested that the gentoo penguin be split into a species complex of four morphologically similar but separate species: the northern gentoo penguin ( P. papua (subantarctic gentoo) and the smaller P. īefore 2021, only two subspecies of the gentoo penguin have been recognised: P. poncetii ( South Georgia gentoo penguin) Tyler, Bonfitto, Clucas, Reddy & Younger, 2020 - South Georgia IslandĪlthough the population on the Kerguelen Islands is tentatively included in taeniata, it may also be a distinct subspecies. ellsworthi ( southern gentoo penguin) Murphy, 1947 - the Antarctic Peninsula, the South Orkney Islands, South Shetland Islands and South Sandwich Islands papua ( northern gentoo penguin) ( Forster, 1781) - Falkland Islands, Martillo Island in the Beagle Channel, and Isla de los Estados ( Argentina) taeniata ( eastern gentoo penguin) ( Peale, 1849) - Crozet Islands, Prince Edward Islands, Kerguelen Islands, Heard Island, and Macquarie Island There are 4 subspecies recognized by the International Ornithological Congress: In turn, the Adélie penguins split off from the other members of the genus around 19 Mya and the chinstrap and gentoo finally diverged around 14 Mya. Mitochondrial and nuclear DNA evidence suggests the genus split from other penguins around 38 million years ago (Mya), about 2 million years after the ancestors of the genus Aptenodytes. The gentoo penguin is one of three species in the genus Pygoscelis. Others trace the error to a 'possibly fraudulent claim' in 1776 by French naturalist Pierre Sonnerat, who also alleged a Papuan location for the king penguin despite never having been to the island himself. The specific name papua is a misnomer in the original description, Johann Reinhold Forster, a naturalist who had circumnavigated the world with Captain James Cook, mistakenly assumed that the species occurred in Papua ( New Guinea), the closest gentoos being over 6000 km to the south (on Macquarie Island). The Johnny rook, a predator, is likely named after the Johnny penguin. It may also be a variation of another name for this bird, 'Johnny penguin', with Johnny being Juanito in Spanish and sounds vaguely like gentoo.

#Penguin natural predators Patch

Some speculate that the white patch on the bird's head was thought to resemble a turban. The English term may have originated from the Portuguese gentio ('pagan, gentile'). Gentoo was an Anglo-Indian term to distinguish Hindus from Muslims. The application of 'gentoo' to the penguin is unclear. The species calls in a variety of ways, but the most frequently heard is a loud trumpeting, which the bird emits with its head thrown back. The earliest scientific description was made in 1781 by Johann Reinhold Forster with a type locality in the Falkland Islands. All of these species have evolved together however and so predation events at sea are natural.The gentoo penguin ( / ˈ dʒ ɛ n t uː/ JEN-too) ( Pygoscelis papua) is a penguin species (or possibly a species complex) in the genus Pygoscelis, most closely related to the Adélie penguin ( P. Barracouta are thought to cause accidental injury when they cross paths with hoiho or feed in the same area. Predation of hoiho in the sea is exclusively by native animals such as New Zealand sea lion and sharks. Annual chick mortality can be as high as 60% in the absence of effective land-based predator control. Pigs are also an issue rooting up nest sites, eating eggs and even killing adult birds. Dogs are capable of killing adult birds as well as chicks. Predation by cats is suspected, but there is no direct evidence. Land-based predators which may kill penguin chicks or eat their eggs include mammals such as rats, stoats and ferrets. Invasive mammals are a particular problem for island nations like New Zealand where animals have evolved in the absence of such predators. Predation by invasive mammals is a major cause of species extinctions globally. Predation Land based predators kill hoiho chicks and eat eggs