The Waitaha penguin (''Megadyptes waitaha'') is an extinct species 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 ...

penguin described in 2009.

Taxonomy

The new species was discovered by

University of Otago , image_name = University of Otago Registry Building2.jpg , image_size = , caption = University clock tower , motto = la, Sapere aude , mottoeng = Dare to be wise , established = 1869; 152 years ago , type = Public research collegiate ...

and

University of Adelaide The University of Adelaide (informally Adelaide University) is a public research university located in Adelaide, South Australia. Established in 1874, it is the third-oldest university in Australia. The university's main campus is located on N ...

scientists comparing the foot bones of 500-year-old, 100-year-old and modern specimens of penguins. They were initially believed to have all belonged to the

yellow-eyed penguin The yellow-eyed penguin (''Megadyptes antipodes''), known also as hoiho or tarakaka, is a species of penguin endemic to New Zealand. Previously thought closely related to the little penguin (''Eudyptula minor''), molecular research has shown it ...

(''Megadyptes antipodes''), a species that has been threatened since human settlement. However, the 500-year-old subfossil bones yielded different DNA. According to lead researcher Sanne Boessenkool, Waitaha penguins "were around 10% smaller than the yellow-eyed penguin. The two species are very closely related, but we can't say if they had a yellow crown." The penguin was named for the

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the C ...

iwi Iwi () are the largest social units in New Zealand Māori society. In Māori roughly means "people" or "nation", and is often translated as "tribe", or "a confederation of tribes". The word is both singular and plural in the Māori language, ...

(tribe) Waitaha, whose tribal lands included the areas the Waitaha penguin are thought to have inhabited. "Our findings demonstrate that yellow-eyed penguins on mainland New Zealand are not a declining remnant of a previous abundant population, but came from the

subantarctic The sub-Antarctic zone is a region in the Southern Hemisphere, located immediately north of the Antarctic region. This translates roughly to a latitude of between 46° and 60° south of the Equator. The subantarctic region includes many islands ...

relatively recently and replaced the extinct Waitaha penguin," said team member Dr Jeremy Austin, deputy director of the Australasian Centre for Ancient DNA. A 2019 study recommended classifying the Waitaha penguin as ''M. a. waitaha'', a subspecies of the extant yellow-eyed penguin. If this taxonomic revision is confirmed, then ''Megadyptes antipodes'' is native to mainland New Zealand after all.

Extinction

As the local

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 several c ...

have no record of this different species, it is estimated to have perished between c. 1300 and 1500, soon after Polynesian settlers arrived in New Zealand. While it is currently unclear precisely how the species became extinct, Boessenkool says they were probably eaten by the settlers. "The fact we find these bones in archaeological sites, villages or settlements, suggests hunting played a role. The birds were an easy target, easy to take and there were never very many of them." After their extinction, their range was occupied by yellow-eyed penguins, previously most abundant in the subantarctic islands further south. The decrease in sea lion populations after human settlement may also have eased their expansion. Another coauthor, Dr Phil Seddon, said "these unexpected results highlight ... the dynamic nature of ecosystem change, where the loss of one species may open up opportunities for the expansion of another." The report was published in the scientific journal ''

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B''.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q862887 Waitaha penguin Extinct penguins Extinct birds of New Zealand Late Quaternary prehistoric birds Waitaha penguin

Taxonomy

Extinction

See also

References