The genus ''Eudyptula'' ("good little diver") contains two species of

penguin Penguins ( order Sphenisciformes , family Spheniscidae ) are a group of aquatic flightless birds. They live almost exclusively in the Southern Hemisphere: only one species, the Galápagos penguin, is found north of the Equator. Highly adapt ...

, found in southern Australia,

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

, and

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 List of islands of New Zealand, smaller islands. It is the ...

(including 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 t ...

). They are commonly known as the

little penguin The little penguin (''Eudyptula minor'') is a species of penguin from New Zealand. They are commonly known as little blue penguins or blue penguins owing to their slate-blue plumage and are also known by their Māori name . The Australian l ...

, little blue penguin, or, in Australia, fairy penguin. In the language of the

Māori people The Māori (, ) are the indigenous Polynesian people of mainland New Zealand (). Māori originated with settlers from East Polynesia, who arrived in New Zealand in several waves of canoe voyages between roughly 1320 and 1350. Over severa ...

, little penguins are known as . For many years, a white-flippered form of the little penguin found only in

North Canterbury Canterbury ( mi, Waitaha) is a region of New Zealand, located in the central-eastern South Island. The region covers an area of , making it the largest region in the country by area. It is home to a population of The region in its current fo ...

, New Zealand was considered either a separate species, '' Eudyptula albosignata'', or just a subspecies, ''Eudyptula minor albosignata''. Analysis of

mtDNA Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA or mDNA) is the DNA located in mitochondrion, mitochondria, cellular organelles within eukaryotic cells that convert chemical energy from food into a form that cells can use, such as adenosine triphosphate (ATP). Mit ...

revealed that ''Eudyptula'' falls instead into two groups: a western one, found along the southern coast of Australia and the

Otago Otago (, ; mi, Ōtākou ) is a region of New Zealand located in the southern half of the South Island administered by the Otago Regional Council. It has an area of approximately , making it the country's second largest local government reg ...

region of New Zealand, and another found in the rest of New Zealand. These two groups are now considered full species: '' Eudyptula novaehollandiae'' in Australia and Otago, and '' Eudyptula minor'' elsewhere. ''E. novaehollandiae'' probably arrived in New Zealand from Australia less than 500 years ago, following the local extinction of ''E. minor'' in Otago.

Classification

Order Sphenisciformes * Family Spheniscidae **Genus ''Eudyptula'' ***'' Eudyptula minor'' – little penguin ***'' Eudyptula novaehollandiae'' – Australian little penguin

Extant Species

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q3021378 Bird genera Penguins Spheniscidae Taxa named by Charles Lucien Bonaparte