Pygoscelis

Short description: Genus of birds

Brush-tailed penguins

Temporal range: Eocene to present

Pygoscelis antarctica
Scientific classification
Domain:  | Eukaryota
Kingdom:  | Animalia
Phylum:  | Chordata
Class:  | Aves
Order:  | Sphenisciformes
Family:  | Spheniscidae
Genus:  | Pygoscelis
Wagler, 1832
Type species
Aptenodytes antarctica[1]

Species

Pygoscelis adeliae
Pygoscelis antarctica
Pygoscelis papua
†Pygoscelis tyreei (fossil)
†Pygoscelis calderensis (fossil)
†Pygoscelis grandis (fossil)

The genus Pygoscelis ("rump-legged") contains three living species of penguins collectively known as "brush-tailed penguins".[2]

## 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.[3]

Extant species
Image | Scientific name | Common Name | Distribution

|
|
|

| Pygoscelis adeliae | Adélie penguin | Antarctica, Bouvet Island
| Pygoscelis antarcticus | Chinstrap penguin | Antarctica, Argentina, Bouvet Island, Chile, the Falkland Islands, the French Southern Territories, and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands
| Pygoscelis papua | Gentoo penguin | Falkland Islands, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, and Kerguelen Islands

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).[4][5] However, in 2021 the International Ornithological Congress recognized these as being subspecies of P. papua.[6]

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,[7] making up 90% of Antarctic avian biomass.[8]

Fossil species

* Pygoscelis grandis (Bahía Inglesa Formation, Late Miocene/Early Pliocene of Bahía Inglesa, Chile)
* Pygoscelis calderensis (Bahía Inglesa Formation, Late Miocene of Bahía Inglesa, Chile)
* Pygoscelis tyreei (Pliocene of New Zealand)

The latter two are tentatively assigned to this genus.

## References

1. ↑ Commentationes Societatis Regiae Scientiarum Gottingensis 3 (1780): 134, 141, pl.4.
2. ↑ "Pygoscelis". 2000. http://www.pinguins.info/Engels/Pygoscelis_eng.html. Retrieved 2016-10-02.
3. ↑ "Multiple gene evidence for expansion of extant penguins out of Antarctica due to global cooling". Proc Biol Sci 273 (1582): 11–17. 2006. doi:10.1098/rspb.2005.3260. PMID 16519228.
4. ↑ Tyler, Joshua; Bonfitto, Matthew T.; Clucas, Gemma V.; Reddy, Sushma; Younger, Jane L. (2020). "Morphometric and genetic evidence for four species of gentoo penguin" (in en). Ecology and Evolution 10 (24): 13836–13846. doi:10.1002/ece3.6973. ISSN 2045-7758. PMID 33391684.
5. ↑ Pertierra, Luis R.; Segovia, Nicolás I.; Noll, Daly; Martinez, Pablo A.; Pliscoff, Patricio; Barbosa, Andrés; Aragón, Pedro; Rey, Andrea Raya et al. (2020). "Cryptic speciation in gentoo penguins is driven by geographic isolation and regional marine conditions: Unforeseen vulnerabilities to global change" (in en). Diversity and Distributions 26 (8): 958–975. doi:10.1111/ddi.13072. ISSN 1472-4642.
6. ↑ "Kagu, Sunbittern, tropicbirds, loons, penguins – IOC World Bird List" (in en-US). https://www.worldbirdnames.org/new/bow/loons/.
7. ↑ Black, Caitlin E. (2016-03-01). "A comprehensive review of the phenology of Pygoscelis penguins" (in en). Polar Biology 39 (3): 405–432. doi:10.1007/s00300-015-1807-8. ISSN 1432-2056. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-015-1807-8.
8. ↑ Williams, Tony D. (1995). The penguins: Spheniscidae. Bird families of the world. Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press. pp. 137. ISBN 978-0-19-854667-2.

Wikidata ☰ Q609432 entry

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