The gentoo penguin ( ) (''Pygoscelis papua'') is a
penguin 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 Reformed (Calvinist) pastor and naturalist of partially Scottish descent who made contributions to the early ornithology of Europe and North America. He is best known ...
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 Dubouze ...
. 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"). Some speculate that the white patch on the bird's head was thought to resemble a
turban.
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, a predator, is likely named after the Johnny penguin.
The
specific name ''papua'' is a
misnomer; in the original description,
Johann Reinhold Forster
Johann Reinhold Forster (22 October 1729 – 9 December 1798) was a German Reformed (Calvinist) pastor and naturalist of partially Scottish descent who made contributions to the early ornithology of Europe and North America. He is best known ...
, a naturalist who had circumnavigated the world with Captain
James Cook, mistakenly assumed that the species occurred in Papua (
New Guinea
New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; id, Papua, or , historically ) is the world's second-largest island with an area of . Located in Oceania in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is separated from Australia by the wide Torr ...
), 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, who also alleged a Papuan location for the
king penguin despite never having been to the island himself.
Taxonomy
The gentoo penguin is one of three species in the genus ''Pygoscelis''.
Mitochondrial and
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''. 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 recognized by the
International Ornithological Congress:
* ''P. p. taeniata'' (eastern gentoo penguin) (
Peale, 1849) -
Crozet Islands,
Prince Edward Islands,
Kerguelen Islands,
Heard Island, and
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 ...
* ''P. p. papua'' (northern gentoo penguin) (
Forster, 1781) -
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 Dubouze ...
,
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
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 1 ...
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
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 ...
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 c ...
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".
Gentoo penguins can reach a height of , making them the third-largest species of penguin after the
emperor penguin and the
king penguin. Males have a maximum weight around just before
molting 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
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 Dubouze ...
,
South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands and
Kerguelen Islands; smaller colonies are found 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 ...
,
Heard Islands,
Crozet 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 1 ...
and the
Antarctic Peninsula. 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 can ...
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 word ', meaning "small fry of fish", which is also often attributed to species of fish.
Krill are consi ...
and
shrimp, 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 ...
and
cephalopods making up only about 15% and 10% of the diet respectively. They are, however,
opportunistic feeders and around the Falklands are known to take roughly equal proportions of fish (''
Patagonotothen'' sp., ''
Thysanopsetta naresi'', ''
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'') and
squid (''
Loligo gahi'', ''
Gonatus antarcticus'', ''
Moroteuthis ingens''). Other prey include ''
Lepidonotothen squamifrons'', ''
Channichthys rhinoceratus'' and
octopuses.
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 O
2 per day.
Predators
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 ...
s,
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 whales are all predators of the gentoo. On land, no predators of full-grown, healthy gentoo penguins exist.
Skuas 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, 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, w ...
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 i ...
.
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
File:Pygoscelis papua on Carcass Island 1.jpg, Gentoo colony on Carcass Island in the Falklands
File:GentooPenguinPredation.jpg, A 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 ...
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 penguinsGentoo penguin imagesGentoo penguin webcam from the Antarctic– worldwide first webcam with wild penguins; photo quality
*
{{Authority control
gentoo penguin
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
gentoo penguin
gentoo penguin