Other Penguin Species

There are 17 penguin species in the world, 13 of which occur in the New Zealand region. Four of these breed on the mainland of New Zealand. The yellow-eyed penguin is probably the world’s rarest penguin. The only member of the genus Megadyptes, it is possibly the most ancient of all living penguins.

Penguins are believed to have evolved at least 65 million years ago from the same ancestral stock as the albatrosses, shearwaters and petrels. Of the 32 fossil penguin species known to science, 16 have been recorded in New Zealand. Many of the ancient penguins were much bigger than their present day descendants. Overall measurements indicate that extinct penguins averaged 90 cm in height as opposed to present day penguins averaging 60 cm.

The largest known fossil penguin, Anthropornis nordenskjoeldi, found on Seymour Island in Antarctica, stood 170 cm tall. In New Zealand, Pachydyptes ponderosus, found near Oamaru, stood 164 cm tall!

The World’s Penguins (from a poster by Nature Lines)

1. Emperor – Aptenodytes forsteri
2. King- Adtenodytes patagonica
3. Yellow-eyed – Megadyptes antipodes
4. Chinstrap – Pygoscelis Antarctica
5. Adelie – Pygoscelis adeliae
6. Gentoo – Pygoscelis papua
7. Royal – Eudyptes schlegeli
8. Rockhopper – Eudyptes chrysocome
9. Snares crested – Eudyptes robustus
10. Macaroni – Eudyptes chrysolophus
11. Fiordland crested – Eudyptes pachyrhynchus
12. Erect crested – Eudyptes sclateri
13. African black-footed – Spheniscus demersus
14. Magellanic – Spheniscus magellanicus
15. Peruvian – Spheniscus humboldti
16. Galapagos – Spheniscus mendiculus
17. White-flippered – Eudyptula albosignata
18. Blue (fairy) – Eudyptula minor

Related Pages

• Basic facts
• Physical Characteristics
• Breeding
• Feeding
• Moulting
• Distribution
• Viewing protocol
• Sound clips