Īptenodytes Miller, JF, 1778 – great penguins Updated after Marples (1962), Acosta Hospitaleche (2004), and Ksepka et al. The status of the rockhopper penguins is also unclear. Similarly, it is still unclear whether the royal penguin is a separate species or merely a color morph of the macaroni penguin. Some sources consider the white-flippered penguin a separate Eudyptula species, while others treat it as a subspecies of the little blue penguin the actual situation seems to be more complicated. Depending on which authority is followed, penguin biodiversity varies between 17 and 20 living species, all in the subfamily Spheniscinae. The number of extinct penguin species is debated. Two king penguins and one gentoo penguin on a beach on South Georgia, British overseas territory Support for this etymology can be found in the alternative Germanic word for penguin, fettgans or "fat-goose", and the related Dutch word vetgans.Īdult male penguins are called cocks, females are hens a group of penguins on land is a waddle, and a group of penguins in the water is a raft. Some dictionaries suggest a derivation from Welsh pen, "head" and gwyn, "white", including the Oxford English Dictionary, the American Heritage Dictionary, the Century Dictionary and Merriam-Webster, on the basis that the name was originally applied to the great auk, either because it was found on White Head Island ( Welsh: Pen Gwyn) in Newfoundland, or because it had white circles around its eyes (though the head was black).Īn alternative etymology links the word to Latin pinguis, which means "fat" or "oil".
The English word is not apparently of French, Breton or Spanish origin (the latter two are attributed to the French word pingouin), but first appears in English or Dutch. The etymology of the word penguin is still debated. When European explorers discovered what are today known as penguins in the Southern Hemisphere, they noticed their similar appearance to the great auk of the Northern Hemisphere, and named them after this bird, although they are not closely related. The word penguin first appears in literature at the end of the 16th century. Ī group of emperor penguins ( Aptenodytes forsteri) in Antarctica There was a great diversity of species in subantarctic regions, and at least one giant species in a region around 2,000 km south of the equator 35 mya, during the Late Eocene, a climate decidedly warmer than today. Some prehistoric penguin species were enormous: as tall or heavy as an adult human.
Today, larger penguins generally inhabit colder regions, and smaller penguins inhabit regions with temperate or tropical climates. The smallest penguin species is the little blue penguin ( Eudyptula minor), also known as the fairy penguin, which stands around 33 cm (13 in) tall and weighs 1 kg (2.2 lb). The largest living species is the Emperor penguin ( Aptenodytes forsteri): on average, adults are about 1.1 m (3 ft 7 in) tall and weigh 35 kg (77 lb).
They spend roughly half of their lives on land and the other half in the sea. A penguin has a spiny tongue and powerful jaws to grip slippery prey. Most penguins feed on krill, fish, squid and other forms of sea life which they catch with their bills and swallow it whole while swimming. Highly adapted for life in the water, penguins have countershaded dark and white plumage and flippers for swimming. They live almost exclusively in the Southern Hemisphere: only one species, the Galápagos penguin, is found north of the Equator. Penguins ( order Sphenisciformes / s f ɪ ˈ n ɪ s ɪ f ɔːr m iː z/, family Spheniscidae / s f ɪ ˈ n ɪ s ɪ d iː/) are a group of aquatic flightless birds. Penguin species of different genera from top-left, clockwise: Emperor penguin ( Aptenodytes forsteri), snares penguin ( Eudyptes robustus), little penguin ( Eudyptula minor), yellow-eyed penguin ( Megadyptes antipodes), gentoo penguin ( Pygoscelis papua), African penguin ( Spheniscus demersus)īreeding range of penguins, all species (aqua) some species have wider seasonal migration ranges Possible Cretaceous origin according to molecular data
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