Penguins cannot self-replicate, but thanks to researchers developing a clearer understanding of penguin genetics, scientists now believe they’ve split one gentoo penguin species into four separate species living around Antarctica, along with one totally new type of penguin.
According to a new study published in the journal Current Biology, researchers argue that scientists have been miscounting gentoo penguins for decades. What was once considered a single species spread across Antarctica and surrounding islands may actually be four genetically distinct species that have been influenced by a variety of factors like geography, isolation, and adaptation to the Earth’s changing climate.
The vast majority of humans on Earth may not have been aware that, for some time, gentoo penguin taxonomy has been debated among marine biologists. Thanks to recent advances in genetic analysis, researchers think they finally have enough evidence to end the debate and redraw the penguins’ family tree.
Scientists examined DNA from 64 gentoo penguins across breeding colonies throughout the Southern Ocean. They found populations evolving separately for so long that they now function as entirely unique species.
This Is the First New Penguin Species in Over 100 Years
Changes between the species were massive but crucial enough to warrant their own classification. Eastern gentoo penguins evolved in wetter habitats with stable temperatures, while southern gentoo penguins adapted to colder regions with higher salt levels and icy winters. The fact that penguins of all kinds tend to return to the exact same nesting sites every year, limiting gene diversity between isolated island populations, makes this all the more impressive. There aren’t new penguin species cropping up every once in a while simply because their natural habits don’t lead to genetic diversity.
Three existing gentoo subspecies are now being turned into full-fledged species, which is a big discovery on its own, but an even bigger discovery involves penguins living on the Kerguelen Islands right smack in between the Indian Ocean and the Southern Ocean. Researchers say that these penguins represent an entirely new species called Pygoscelis kerguelensis, or the southeastern gentoo penguin. This is the first newly recognized penguin species in more than 100 years.
It’s all quite fascinating, but could soon slip into the depressing, considering that current climate models suggest that our rapid heating of the Earth’s atmosphere and the increase of greenhouse gases could render their homes uninhabitable by 2050. These are species stuck on isolated islands and have nowhere else to go. At this rate, their population numbers will plummet faster than we can discover new varieties of them.
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