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Gentoo penguin
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Gentoo penguin
The gentoo penguin (/ˈdʒɛntuː/ 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. adeliae) and the chinstrap penguin (P. antarcticus). The earliest scientific description was made in 1781 by Johann Reinhold Forster with a type locality in the Falkland Islands. 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 application of "gentoo" to the penguin is unclear. Gentoo was an Anglo-Indian term to distinguish Hindus from Muslims. The English term may have originated from the Portuguese gentio ("pagan, gentile"). Some speculate that the white patch on the bird's head was thought to resemble a turban.
It may also be a variation of another name for this bird, "Johnny penguin", with Johnny being the Spanish counterpart of Juanito and sounding vaguely like gentoo. The Johnny rook, a predator, is likely named after the Johnny penguin.
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 6,000 km (3,700 mi) to the south (on Macquarie Island). No penguins are found in New Guinea. 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 gentoo penguin is one of three species in the genus Pygoscelis. 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. 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.
There are four subspecies recognized by the International Ornithological Congress:
Although the population on the Kerguelen Islands is tentatively included in taeniata, it may also be a distinct subspecies.
Before 2021, only two subspecies of the gentoo penguin had been recognised: P. p. papua (subantarctic gentoo) and the smaller P. p. ellsworthi (Antarctic gentoo). 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 sensu stricto), the southern gentoo penguin (P. ellsworthi), the eastern gentoo penguin (P. taeniata) and the newly described South Georgia gentoo penguin (P. poncetii). The International Ornithological Congress incorporated the results of this study in 2021, but relegated the newly recognized or newly described species to subspecies of P. papua.
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Gentoo penguin
The gentoo penguin (/ˈdʒɛntuː/ 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. adeliae) and the chinstrap penguin (P. antarcticus). The earliest scientific description was made in 1781 by Johann Reinhold Forster with a type locality in the Falkland Islands. 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 application of "gentoo" to the penguin is unclear. Gentoo was an Anglo-Indian term to distinguish Hindus from Muslims. The English term may have originated from the Portuguese gentio ("pagan, gentile"). Some speculate that the white patch on the bird's head was thought to resemble a turban.
It may also be a variation of another name for this bird, "Johnny penguin", with Johnny being the Spanish counterpart of Juanito and sounding vaguely like gentoo. The Johnny rook, a predator, is likely named after the Johnny penguin.
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 6,000 km (3,700 mi) to the south (on Macquarie Island). No penguins are found in New Guinea. 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 gentoo penguin is one of three species in the genus Pygoscelis. 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. 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.
There are four subspecies recognized by the International Ornithological Congress:
Although the population on the Kerguelen Islands is tentatively included in taeniata, it may also be a distinct subspecies.
Before 2021, only two subspecies of the gentoo penguin had been recognised: P. p. papua (subantarctic gentoo) and the smaller P. p. ellsworthi (Antarctic gentoo). 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 sensu stricto), the southern gentoo penguin (P. ellsworthi), the eastern gentoo penguin (P. taeniata) and the newly described South Georgia gentoo penguin (P. poncetii). The International Ornithological Congress incorporated the results of this study in 2021, but relegated the newly recognized or newly described species to subspecies of P. papua.
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