The gentoo penguin ( ) (''Pygoscelis papua'') is a

penguin Penguins (order (biology), order List of Sphenisciformes by population, Sphenisciformes , family (biology), family Spheniscidae ) are a group of Water bird, aquatic flightless birds. They live almost exclusively in the Southern Hemisphere: on ...

species (or possibly a

species complex In biology, a species complex is a group of closely related organisms that are so similar in appearance and other features that the boundaries between them are often unclear. The taxa in the complex may be able to hybridize readily with each oth ...

) in the genus ''

Pygoscelis The genus ''Pygoscelis'' ("rump-legged") contains three living species of penguins collectively known as "brush-tailed penguins". Taxonomy Mitochondrial and nuclear DNA evidence suggests the genus split from other penguins around 38 millio ...

'', most closely related to the Adélie penguin (''P. adeliae'') and the chinstrap penguin (''P. antarcticus''). The earliest scientific description was made in 1781 by

Johann Reinhold Forster Johann Reinhold Forster (22 October 1729 – 9 December 1798) was a German Continental Reformed church, Reformed (Calvinist) pastor and natural history, naturalist of partially Scottish descent who made contributions to the early ornithology of ...

with a type locality in the

Falkland Islands The Falkland Islands (; es, Islas Malvinas, link=no ) is an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean on the Patagonian Shelf. The principal islands are about east of South America's southern Patagonian coast and about from Cape Dubouzet ...

. The species calls in a variety of ways, but the most frequently heard is a loud trumpeting, which the bird emits with its head thrown back.

Names

The application of "gentoo" to the penguin is unclear. '' Gentoo'' was an Anglo-Indian term to distinguish

Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism.Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

s from Muslims. The English term may have originated from the Portuguese ''gentio'' ("pagan,

gentile Gentile () is a word that usually means "someone who is not a Jew". Other groups that claim Israelite heritage, notably Mormons, sometimes use the term ''gentile'' to describe outsiders. More rarely, the term is generally used as a synonym for ...

"). Some speculate that the white patch on the bird's head was thought to resemble a

turban A turban (from Persian دولبند‌, ''dulband''; via Middle French ''turbant'') is a type of headwear based on cloth winding. Featuring many variations, it is worn as customary headwear by people of various cultures. Communities with promin ...

. It may also be a variation of another name for this bird, "Johnny penguin", with Johnny being in Spanish and sounds vaguely like gentoo. The

Johnny rook The striated caracara (''Phalcoboenus australis'') is a bird of prey of the family Falconidae. In the Falkland Islands, it is known as the Johnny rook, probably named after the Johnny penguin (gentoo penguin). Description The adults' plumage i ...

, a predator, is likely named after the Johnny penguin. The specific name ''papua'' is a

misnomer A misnomer is a name that is incorrectly or unsuitably applied. Misnomers often arise because something was named long before its correct nature was known, or because an earlier form of something has been replaced by a later form to which the name ...

; in the original description,

, a naturalist who had circumnavigated the world with Captain

James Cook James Cook (7 November 1728 Old Style date: 27 October – 14 February 1779) was a British explorer, navigator, cartographer, and captain in the British Royal Navy, famous for his three voyages between 1768 and 1779 in the Pacific Ocean an ...

, mistakenly assumed that the species occurred in Papua (

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu Hiri Motu, also known as Police Motu, Pidgin Motu, or just Hiri, is a language of Papua New Guinea, which is spoken in surrounding areas of Port Moresby (Capital of Papua New Guinea). It is a simplified version of ...

), the closest gentoos actually being over 6000 km to the south (on

Macquarie Island Macquarie Island is an island in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, about halfway between New Zealand and Antarctica. Regionally part of Oceania and politically a part of Tasmania, Australia, since 1900, it became a Tasmanian State Reserve in 197 ...

). No penguins are found in New Guinea. Others trace the error to a "possibly fraudulent claim" in 1776 by French naturalist

Pierre Sonnerat Pierre Sonnerat (18 August 1748 – 31 March 1814) was a French naturalist, colonial administrator, writer and explorer. He described numerous species of plants and animals on his travels and is honoured in the genus ''Sonneratia'' and in other ...

, who also alleged a Papuan location for the

king penguin The king penguin (''Aptenodytes patagonicus'') is the second largest species of penguin, smaller, but somewhat similar in appearance to the emperor penguin. There are two subspecies: ''A. p. patagonicus'' and ''A. p. halli''; ''patagonicus'' ...

despite never having been to the island himself.

Taxonomy

The gentoo penguin is one of three species in the genus ''Pygoscelis''.

Mitochondria A mitochondrion (; ) is an organelle found in the Cell (biology), cells of most Eukaryotes, such as animals, plants and Fungus, fungi. Mitochondria have a double lipid bilayer, membrane structure and use aerobic respiration to generate adenosi ...

l and

nuclear Nuclear may refer to: Physics Relating to the nucleus of the atom: * Nuclear engineering *Nuclear physics *Nuclear power *Nuclear reactor *Nuclear weapon *Nuclear medicine *Radiation therapy *Nuclear warfare Mathematics *Nuclear space *Nuclear ...

DNA evidence suggests the genus split from other penguins around 38 million years ago (Mya), about 2 million years after the ancestors of the genus ''

Aptenodytes The genus ''Aptenodytes'' contains two extant species of penguins collectively known as "the great penguins". Etymology The name "Aptenodytes" is a composite of Ancient Greek elements, "ἀ-πτηνο-δύτης" (without-wings-diver). Taxon ...

''. In turn, the Adélie penguins split off from the other members of the genus around 19 Mya, and the chinstrap and gentoo finally diverged around 14 Mya. There are 4

subspecies In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species ...

recognized by the

International Ornithological Congress International is an adjective (also used as a noun) meaning "between nations". International may also refer to: Music Albums * ''International'' (Kevin Michael album), 2011 * ''International'' (New Order album), 2002 * ''International'' (The T ...

: * ''P. p. taeniata'' (eastern gentoo penguin) ( Peale, 1849) - Crozet Islands,

Prince Edward Islands The Prince Edward Islands are two small uninhabited islands in the sub-Antarctic Indian Ocean that are part of South Africa. The islands are named Marion Island (named after Marc-Joseph Marion du Fresne, 1724–1772) and Prince Edward Island ...

, Kerguelen Islands,

Heard Island The Territory of Heard Island and McDonald Islands (HIMI) is an Australian external territory comprising a volcanic group of mostly barren Antarctic islands, about two-thirds of the way from Madagascar to Antarctica. The group's overall size ...

, and

* ''P. p. papua'' (northern gentoo penguin) ( Forster, 1781) -

, Martillo Island in the

Beagle Channel Beagle Channel (; Yahgan: ''Onašaga'') is a strait in the Tierra del Fuego Archipelago, on the extreme southern tip of South America between Chile and Argentina. The channel separates the larger main island of Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego f ...

, and

Isla de los Estados Isla de los Estados (English: Staten Island, from the Dutch ''Stateneiland'') is an Argentine island that lies off the eastern extremity of Tierra del Fuego, from which it is separated by the Le Maire Strait. It was named after the Netherlands ...

(

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

) * ''P. p. ellsworthi'' (southern gentoo penguin) Murphy, 1947 - the

Antarctic Peninsula The Antarctic Peninsula, known as O'Higgins Land in Chile and Tierra de San Martín in Argentina, and originally as Graham Land in the United Kingdom and the Palmer Peninsula in the United States, is the northernmost part of mainland Antarctic ...

, the South Orkney Islands,

South Shetland Islands The South Shetland Islands are a group of Antarctic islands with a total area of . They lie about north of the Antarctic Peninsula, and between southwest of the nearest point of the South Orkney Islands. By the Antarctic Treaty of 195 ...

and

South Sandwich Islands ) , anthem = "God Save the King" , song_type = , song = , image_map = South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands in United Kingdom.svg , map_caption = Location of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands in the southern Atlantic Oce ...

* ''P. p. poncetii'' (South Georgia gentoo penguin) Tyler, Bonfitto, Clucas, Reddy & Younger, 2020 -

South Georgia Island South Georgia ( es, Isla San Pedro) is an island in the South Atlantic Ocean that is part of the British Overseas Territory of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands. It lies around east of the Falkland Islands. Stretching in the east� ...

Although the population on the Kerguelen Islands is tentatively included in ''taeniata'', it may also be a distinct subspecies. Prior to 2021, only two subspecies of the gentoo penguin were recognised: ''P. p. papua'' (subantarctic gentoo) and the smaller ''P. p. ellsworthi'' (Antarctic gentoo). However, a 2020 study suggested that the gentoo penguin be split into a

of four morphologically similar but separate species: the northern gentoo penguin (''P. papua

sensu ''Sensu'' is a Latin word meaning "in the sense of". It is used in a number of fields including biology, geology, linguistics, semiotics, and law. Commonly it refers to how strictly or loosely an expression is used in describing any particular co ...

stricto''), the southern gentoo penguin (''P. ellsworthi''), the eastern gentoo penguin (''P. taeniata'') and the newly described South Georgia gentoo penguin (''P. poncetii''). The International Ornithological Congress incorporated the results of this study in 2021, but relegated the newly-recognized or newly-described species to being subspecies of ''P. papua''.

Description

The gentoo penguin is easily recognized by the wide, white stripe extending like a

bonnet A Bonnet is a variety of headgear, hat or cap Specific types of headgear referred to as "bonnets" may include Scottish * Blue bonnet, a distinctive woollen cap worn by men in Scotland from the 15th-18th centuries And its derivations: ** Fea ...

across the top of its head and its bright orange-red bill. It has pale whitish-pink, webbed feet and a fairly long tail – the most prominent tail of all penguin species. Chicks have grey backs with white fronts. As the gentoo penguin waddles along on land, its tail sticks out behind, sweeping from side to side, hence the scientific name ''Pygoscelis'', which means "rump-tailed". Falkland Islands Penguins 45

Gentoo penguins can reach a height of , making them the third-largest species of penguin after the

emperor penguin The emperor penguin (''Aptenodytes forsteri'') is the tallest and heaviest of all living penguin species and is endemic to Antarctica. The male and female are similar in plumage and size, reaching in length and weighing from . Feathers of th ...

and the

. Males have a maximum weight around just before

molting In biology, moulting (British English), or molting (American English), also known as sloughing, shedding, or in many invertebrates, ecdysis, is the manner in which an animal routinely casts off a part of its body (often, but not always, an outer ...

and a minimum weight of about just before mating. For females, the maximum weight is just before molting, but their weight drops to as little as when guarding the chicks in the nest. Birds from the north are on average heavier and taller than the southern birds. Southern gentoo penguins reach in length. They are the fastest underwater swimmers of all penguins, reaching speeds up to . Gentoos are well adapted to extremely cold and harsh climates.

Breeding

The breeding colonies of gentoo penguins are located on ice-free surfaces. Colonies can be located directly on the shoreline or considerably inland. They prefer shallow coastal areas and often nest between tufts of grass. In South Georgia, for example, breeding colonies are 2 km inland. In colonies farther inland, where the penguins nest in grassy areas, they shift location slightly every year because the grass becomes trampled over time. Gentoos breed on many subantarctic islands. The main colonies are on the

South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands ) , anthem = "God Save the King" , song_type = , song = , image_map = South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands in United Kingdom.svg , map_caption = Location of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands in the southern Atlantic Oce ...

and Kerguelen Islands; smaller colonies are found on:

, Heard Islands, Crozet Islands,

and the

. The total breeding population is estimated to be over 600,000 birds. Gentoos breed monogamously and infidelity is typically punished with banishment from the colony. Nests are usually made from a roughly circular pile of stones and can be quite large, high and in diameter. The stones are jealously guarded, and their ownership can be the subject of noisy disputes and physical attacks between individuals. They are also prized by the females, even to the point that a male penguin can obtain the favors of a female by offering her a choice stone. Two eggs are laid, both weighing around . The parents share incubation, changing duty daily. The eggs hatch after 34 to 36 days. The chicks remain in the nests for around 30 days before joining other chicks in the colony and forming ''crèches''. The chicks molt into subadult plumage and go out to sea at around 80 to 100 days.

Diet

Gentoos mainly live on

crustacean Crustaceans (Crustacea, ) form a large, diverse arthropod taxon which includes such animals as decapods, seed shrimp, branchiopods, fish lice, krill, remipedes, isopods, barnacles, copepods, amphipods and mantis shrimp. The crustacean group ...

s, such as

krill Krill are small crustaceans of the order Euphausiacea, and are found in all the world's oceans. The name "krill" comes from the Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in n ...

and

shrimp Shrimp are crustaceans (a form of shellfish) with elongated bodies and a primarily swimming mode of locomotion – most commonly Caridea and Dendrobranchiata of the decapod order, although some crustaceans outside of this order are refer ...

, with

fish Fish are aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish as well as various extinct related groups. Approximately 95% of li ...

and

cephalopod A cephalopod is any member of the molluscan class Cephalopoda (Greek plural , ; "head-feet") such as a squid, octopus, cuttlefish, or nautilus. These exclusively marine animals are characterized by bilateral body symmetry, a prominent head ...

s making up only about 15% and 10% of the diet respectively. They are, however,

opportunistic feeders Feeding is the process by which organisms, typically animals, obtain food. Terminology often uses either the suffixes -vore, -vory, or -vorous from Latin ''vorare'', meaning "to devour", or -phage, -phagy, or -phagous from Greek φαγ ...

and around the Falklands are known to take roughly equal proportions of fish ('' Patagonotothen'' sp., ''

Thysanopsetta naresi ''Thysanopsetta naresi'' is a species of flatfish in the large-tooth flounder family, Paralichthyidae. It is the only member of its genus ''Thysanopsetta''. ''Thysanopsetta naresi'' is a demersal fish that lives in temperate waters at depths o ...

'', '' Micromesistius australis''),

squat lobster Squat lobsters are dorsoventrally flattened crustaceans with long tails held curled beneath the cephalothorax. They are found in the two superfamilies Galatheoidea and Chirostyloidea, which form part of the decapod infraorder Anomura, alongsi ...

s (''

Munida gregaria ''Munida gregaria,'' commonly known as the gregarious squat lobster, is a species of squat lobster found along the eastern seaboard of the South Island of New Zealand, around the southern coast of Tasmania and in a few locations around the sou ...

'') and

squid True squid are molluscs with an elongated soft body, large eyes, eight arms, and two tentacles in the superorder Decapodiformes, though many other molluscs within the broader Neocoleoidea are also called squid despite not strictly fitting t ...

('' Loligo gahi'', '' Gonatus antarcticus'', ''

Moroteuthis ingens ''Onykia ingens'', the greater hooked squid, is a species of squid in the family Onychoteuthidae. It occurs worldwide in subantarctic oceans. Although ''O. ingens'' was long attributed to the genus ''Moroteuthis'', several authors have recentl ...

''). Other prey include '' Lepidonotothen squamifrons'', ''

Channichthys rhinoceratus ''Channichthys rhinoceratus,'' the unicorn icefish, is a species of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the Family (biology), family Channichthyidae, the crocodile icefishes. It is Endemism, endemic to the Kerguelen Plateau, Kerguelen-Heard Plat ...

'' and

octopus An octopus ( : octopuses or octopodes, see below for variants) is a soft-bodied, eight- limbed mollusc of the order Octopoda (, ). The order consists of some 300 species and is grouped within the class Cephalopoda with squids, cuttle ...

es.

Physiology

The gentoos' diet is high in salt, as they eat organisms with relatively the same salinity as sea water, which can lead to complications associated with high sodium concentrations in the body, especially for gentoo chicks. To counteract this, gentoos, as well as many other marine bird species, have a highly developed

salt gland The salt gland is an organ for excreting excess salts. It is found in the cartilaginous fishes subclass elasmobranchii (sharks, rays, and skates), seabirds, and some reptiles. Salt glands can be found in the rectum of sharks. Birds and reptiles ...

located above their eyes that takes the high concentration of sodium within the body and produces a highly saline-concentrated solution that drips out of the body from the tip of the beak. Gentoo penguins do not store as much fat as Adélie penguins, their closest relative; gentoos require less energy investment when hunting because the net gain of energy after hunting is greater in gentoos than Adélies. As embryos, gentoos require a lot of energy to develop. Oxygen consumption is high for a developing gentoo embryo. As the embryo grows and requires more oxygen, consumption increases exponentially until the gentoo chick hatches. By then, the chick is consuming around 1800 ml O₂ per day.

Predators

Brown Skua snatches Gentoo Penguin Chick (5751218963)

In the sea,

leopard seal The leopard seal (''Hydrurga leptonyx''), also referred to as the sea leopard, is the second largest species of seal in the Antarctic (after the southern elephant seal). Its only natural predator is the orca. It feeds on a wide range of prey incl ...

sea lion Sea lions are pinnipeds characterized by external ear flaps, long foreflippers, the ability to walk on all fours, short and thick hair, and a big chest and belly. Together with the fur seals, they make up the family Otariidae, eared seals. ...

s and

killer whale The orca or killer whale (''Orcinus orca'') is a toothed whale belonging to the oceanic dolphin family, of which it is the largest member. It is the only extant species in the genus ''Orcinus'' and is recognizable by its black-and-white ...

s are all predators of the gentoo. On land, no predators of full-grown, healthy gentoo penguins exist.

Skua The skuas are a group of predatory seabirds with seven species forming the genus ''Stercorarius'', the only genus in the family Stercorariidae. The three smaller skuas, the long-tailed skua, the Arctic skua, and the pomarine skua are called ...

s and

giant petrel Giant petrels form a genus, ''Macronectes'', from the family Procellariidae, which consists of two species. They are the largest birds of this family. Both species are restricted to the Southern Hemisphere, and though their distributions overla ...

s regularly kill many chicks and steal eggs; petrels kill injured and sick adult gentoos. Various other seabirds, such as the

kelp gull The kelp gull (''Larus dominicanus''), also known as the Dominican gull, is a gull that breeds on coasts and islands through much of the Southern Hemisphere. The nominate ''L. d. dominicanus'' is the subspecies found around South America, part ...

and

snowy sheathbill The snowy sheathbill (''Chionis albus''), also known as the greater sheathbill, pale-faced sheathbill, and paddy, is one of two species of sheathbill. It is usually found on the ground. It is the only land bird native to the Antarctic continent. ...

, also snatch chicks and eggs. Skuas on King George Island have been observed attacking and injuring adult gentoo penguins in apparent territorial disputes.

Conservation status

, the

IUCN Red List The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data Book, founded in 1964, is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of biol ...

lists the gentoo as least concern with a stable population trend, although rapid declines in some key areas are believed to be driving a moderate overall decline in the species population. Examples include

Bird Island, South Georgia Bird Island ( es, Isla Pájaro) is long and wide, separated from the western end of South Georgia by Bird Sound. It is part of the British overseas territory of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, also claimed by Argentina as part of T ...

, where the population has fallen by two-thirds over 25 years. Many threats to this species still exist, including: pollution, hunting, fishing and human recreational activities that continue to affect them.

Influence

The

Linux Linux ( or ) is a family of open-source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991, by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged as a Linux distribution, which ...

distribution Gentoo Linux is named after the gentoo penguin. This is a nod to the fact that the penguin is the fastest swimming penguin, as Gentoo Linux aims to be a high-performance

operating system An operating system (OS) is system software that manages computer hardware, software resources, and provides common services for computer programs. Time-sharing operating systems schedule tasks for efficient use of the system and may also in ...

Gallery

File:Gentoo-and-bird.jpg, Adult gentoo confronting a southern giant petrel (''Macronectes giganteus'') that has killed a chick File:Gentoo penguin (Pygoscelis papua) on nest.jpg, Gentoo penguin on nest File:Gentoo Penguin Swimming.jpg, A gentoo penguin swimming File:Gentoo penguin juvenile Petermann Island.jpg, Juvenile gentoos on

Petermann Island Petermann Island is a small, low and rounded island, lying off the northwest coast of Kyiv Peninsula in Graham Land, Antarctica, a short distance south of Booth Island and the Lemaire Channel. It is a popular tourist destination. Descriptio ...

File:Pygoscelis papua on Carcass Island 1.jpg, Gentoo colony on

Carcass Island Carcass Island ( es, Isla del Rosario) is the largest of the West Point Island Group of the Falkland Islands. Description It lies north-west of West Falkland and south-east of the Jason Islands. It is in length, has a maximum width of , and i ...

in the Falklands File:GentooPenguinPredation.jpg, A

eating an adult gentoo

References

External links

70South – more info on the gentoo penguin

* ttp://www.pinguins.info www.pinguins.info: information about all species of penguins
Gentoo penguin images

Gentoo penguin webcam from the Antarctic
– worldwide first webcam with wild penguins; photo quality * {{Authority control

gentoo penguin The gentoo penguin ( ) (''Pygoscelis papua'') is a penguin species (or possibly a species complex) in the genus ''Pygoscelis'', most closely related to the Adélie penguin (''P. adeliae'') and the chinstrap penguin (''P. antarcticus''). The ea ...

Birds of Antarctica Birds of islands of the Atlantic Ocean Birds of subantarctic islands Birds of the Indian Ocean Birds of the Southern Ocean Fauna of Heard Island and McDonald Islands Fauna of the Crozet Islands Fauna of the Prince Edward Islands Flightless birds Macquarie Island