Crested penguin
Eudyptes chrysocome
Eudyptes chrysolophus
Eudyptes moseleyi
Eudyptes pachyrhynchus
Eudyptes robustus
Eudyptes schlegeli
Eudyptes sclateri
†Eudyptes warhami
†Eudyptes calauina
†Eudyptes atatu
The term crested penguin is the common name given collectively to species of penguins of the genus Eudyptes.[1] The exact number of species in the genus varies between four and seven depending on the authority, and a Chatham Islands species became extinct in recent centuries. All are black and white penguins with yellow crests, red bills and eyes, and are found on Subantarctic islands in the world's southern oceans. All lay two eggs, but raise only one young per breeding season; the first egg laid is substantially smaller than the second.
The genus Eudyptes was introduced by the French ornithologist Louis Jean Pierre Vieillot in 1816;[2] the name is derived from the Ancient Greek words eu meaning "fine", and dyptes meaning "diver".[3] The type species was designated as the southern rockhopper penguin by George Robert Gray in 1840.[4][5]
Six extant species have been classically recognised, with the recent splitting of the rockhopper penguin increasing it to seven. Conversely, the close relationship of the macaroni and royal penguins, and the erect-crested and Snares penguins have led some to propose that the two pairs should be regarded as species.[6]
The Chatham Islands Eudyptes warhami is known only from subfossil bones, and became extinct shortly following human colonisation of the Chatham Islands. This genetically-distinct species was relatively large, with a thin, slim and low bill. (T.L. Cole et al. (2019) Mol. Biol. Evol.)
Mitochondrial and nuclear DNA evidence suggests that the crested penguins split from the ancestors of their closest living relative, the yellow-eyed penguin, in the mid-Miocene around 15 million years ago, before splitting into separate species around 8 million years ago in the late Miocene.[7]
