The Chatham penguin (''Eudyptes warhami''), also known as the Chatham crested penguin, Chatham Islands penguin, or Warham's penguin, is an
extinct species of
crested penguin
The term crested penguin is the common name given collectively to species of penguins of the genus ''Eudyptes''. The exact number of species in the genus varies between four and seven depending on the authority, and a Chatham Islands species beca ...
previously
endemic
Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found else ...
to the
Chatham Islands
The Chatham Islands ( ) (Moriori: ''Rēkohu'', 'Misty Sun'; mi, Wharekauri) are an archipelago in the Pacific Ocean about east of New Zealand's South Island. They are administered as part of New Zealand. The archipelago consists of about te ...
of
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
. It is known only from
subfossil bones and probably became extinct within 150–200 years after
Polynesians arrived in the Chatham Islands around 1500 CE.
Discovery and description
Bones of crested penguins (genus ''
Eudyptes
The term crested penguin is the common name given collectively to species of penguins of the genus ''Eudyptes''. The exact number of species in the genus varies between four and seven depending on the authority, and a Chatham Islands species beca ...
'') have been recorded from subfossil deposits on main
Chatham Island
Chatham Island ( ) (Moriori: ''Rēkohu'', 'Misty Sun'; mi, Wharekauri) is by far the largest island of the Chatham Islands group, in the south Pacific Ocean off the eastern coast of New Zealand's South Island. It is said to be "halfway bet ...
for years. They had been identified as
Fiordland
Fiordland is a geographical region of New Zealand in the south-western corner of the South Island, comprising the westernmost third of Southland. Most of Fiordland is dominated by the steep sides of the snow-capped Southern Alps, deep lake ...
or
erect-crested penguins, but Tennyson and Millener noted in 1994 they differed from both those species, and probably represented a species of crested penguin
endemic
Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found else ...
to the Chathams.
It was referred to as the "Chatham Island crested penguin", but not formally described and named.
As part of a study of the recent evolution of numerous penguin species,
subfossil bones from Chatham Island and the mainland had
mitochondrial DNA fully extracted, sequenced, and compared to other species of ''Eudyptes''. The Chatham bones differed sufficiently in their DNA to support the penguin's identity as a truly distinct species, and it was formally described in 2019 and named ''E. warhami'', after
John Warham, a pioneering researcher in penguin biology.
Based on a comparison of mitochondrial genomes, this species diverged from its closest relative, the erect-crested penguin of the
Antipodes Islands
The Antipodes Islands ( Maōri: Moutere Mahue; "Abandoned island") are inhospitable and uninhabited volcanic islands in subantarctic waters to the south of – and territorially part of – New Zealand. The 21 km2 archipelago lies 860  ...
, between 1.1 and 2.5 million years ago. This corresponds to the emergence of the Chatham Islands from the sea about 3 million years ago.
Range
The Chatham penguin was endemic to the Chatham Islands.
Bones of the Chatham penguin have been identified from various subfossil and archaeological sites on mainland New Zealand, including the
Wairarapa
The Wairarapa (; ), a geographical region of New Zealand, lies in the south-eastern corner of the North Island, east of metropolitan Wellington and south-west of the Hawke's Bay Region. It is lightly populated, having several rural service ...
,
Banks Peninsula,
Marlborough
Marlborough may refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* Marlborough, Wiltshire, England
** Marlborough College, public school
* Marlborough School, Woodstock in Oxfordshire, England
* The Marlborough Science Academy in Hertfordshire, England
Austral ...
, and
Paekakariki areas.
These likely represent stray birds from the Chatham islands arriving on the mainland, not breeding populations. Similarly, the
erect-crested penguin was among the subfossil ''Eudyptes'' bones from the Chatham Islands, which also likely represent strays.
Extinction
The Chatham Islands were settled by
Polynesians around 1500 CE, and the Chatham penguin was probably hunted to extinction within 150–200 years along with many other bird species and one species of sea lion.
It was almost certainly extinct before Europeans arrived in the Chatham Islands.
There has been a suggestion, however, the species persisted as recently as the late
19th century, because a
crested penguin
The term crested penguin is the common name given collectively to species of penguins of the genus ''Eudyptes''. The exact number of species in the genus varies between four and seven depending on the authority, and a Chatham Islands species beca ...
from the Chathams is recorded as being kept captive for several weeks around 1871 or 1872.
Its species was noted as "''Eudyptes pachyrhynchus''", the modern
scientific name for the
Fiordland penguin
The Fiordland penguin (''Eudyptes pachyrhynchus''), also known as the Fiordland crested penguin (in Māori, ''tawaki'' or pokotiwha), is a crested penguin species endemic to New Zealand. It currently breeds along the south-western coasts of Ne ...
. At the time, the name could also refer to the
Snares penguin
The Snares penguin (''Eudyptes robustus''), also known as the Snares crested penguin and the Snares Islands penguin, is a penguin from New Zealand. The species breeds on the Snares Islands, a group of islands off the southern coast of the South ...
(''E. robustus'') and the
erect-crested penguin (''E. sclateri''). Crested penguin species are in fact regular, possibly even annual, visitors to the Chatham Islands. At least three species are recorded from there:
Snares penguins,
erect-crested penguins, and a member of the
rockhopper penguin
The rockhopper penguins are three closely related taxa of crested penguins that have been traditionally treated as a single species and are sometimes split into three species.
Not all experts agree on the classification of these penguins. Some ...
group. The captured bird was likely one of these three.
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q3206559
warhami
Extinct penguins
Extinct birds of the Chatham Islands
Late Quaternary prehistoric birds
Bird extinctions since 1500
Birds described in 2019
Species made extinct by human activities