Scientists have identified a new gentoo penguin species, Pygoscelis kerguelensis, on the remote Kerguelen Islands — the first new penguin species named in more than 100 years. An international team led by Daly Noll of the University of Chile used whole-genome sequencing on 64 penguins across 10 breeding colonies to show that gentoos, long treated as a single species, actually comprise four distinct lineages.
The four species split apart within the past 300,000 to 500,000 years, isolated by ocean currents and the Antarctic Polar Front. Physically, the new species is nearly identical to its relatives, but genetically it is a clearly separate cryptic species, confirmed by genome sequencing and distinct vocalizations.
The finding, published in Communications Biology, also carries a warning: climate models suggest three of the four island-dwelling gentoo species could lose most of their suitable habitat by 2050 as oceans warm, while the mainland Antarctic gentoo may expand its range instead.