Scientists discover new penguin species through breakthrough genetic analysis

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Learn all about penguins at the Kansas City Zoo

The Kansas City Zoo's Helzberg Penguin Plaza opened its doors in October 2013 and is currently home to king, macaroni, gentoo, and chinstrap penguins. They also house a family of Humboldt penguins that live in a separate warm-weather habitat.

THE TAKEAWAY 

• A new species of penguin was discovered for the first time in over 100 years.
• There are slight differences in size and vocalization, but it is genetically distinct and what scientists call a cryptic species.
• Gentoo penguins differ from most others because they eat basically anything they can get their fins on. 

Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, discovered a new species of gentoo penguin, the southeastern gentoo penguin (Pygoscelis kerguelensis), after reviewing genetic evidence from the animal.

What was once considered a single, wildly different species has now opened the door to classifying three other gentoo penguins, rather than one species.

It is easy to pass off this penguin as just another gentoo because of its white underside and black back, which are vital for escaping predators and hunting prey.

SOUTH GEORGIA AND THE SOUTH SANDWICH ISLANDS - 1993/01/01: South Georgia Island, Stromness, Gentoo Penguins Returning From Feeding At Sea.

(Wolfgang Kaehler/LightRocket / Getty Images)

There are slight differences in size and vocalization, but it is genetically distinct and what scientists call a cryptic species.

Gentoo penguins differ from most others because they eat basically anything they can get their fins on in the water.

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Feeding of chick. Gentoo penguin (Pygoscelis papua) on the Falkland Islands. South America, January. 

(Martin Zwick/REDA/Universal Images Group / Getty Images)

Researchers argue that the gentoo evolved into this type of new species as a result of their generalized diet including fish, krill, squid and cuttlefish, not needing to travel far from their habitats as they nest in the same place every year.

This ideal and isolated environment that this species of penguin has inhabited for the last 300,000 to 500,000 years on the remote islands by the Antarctic Polar front has directly contributed to its development into an entirely new species over time.

For the last 100 years, researchers have gone back and forth on how many species or subspecies of penguin there are, but genome data now enables a new, cutting-edge integrative approach to answer these questions.

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ANTARCTICA - FEBRUARY 06: Gentoo (gento) penguins are seen on Ardley Island, one of the 72 special protected areas called "ASPA (Antarctic Specially Protected Area)" as Turkish scientists conduct fieldwork in Antarctica within 7th National Antarctic Science Expedition under the coordination of the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkiye (TUBITAK) MAM Polar Research Institute with the joint responsibilities of the Turkish Presidency and Turkish Ministry of Industry and Technology in Antarctica, on February 13, 2023. Turkish Scientists, left a minimum footprint on Antarctica, " Continent of Science and Peace" took up the role of life's guardians by averting harm to the continent's environment and its surrounds. 

(Sebnem Coskun/Anadolu Agency / Getty Images)

The genomic analysis, led by University of Chile graduate student Daly Noll, revealed how these species evolved to adapt to their environments. 

For example, genes in the southern gentoo penguin allowed the species to adapt to the extreme polar environment over time, with more genes shifting toward heat generation, fat and lipid storage, and light perception.

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With further cutting-edge technology, scientists may discover other subspecies variations and possibly entirely new ones, like the southeastern gentoo penguin.