Research identifies new penguin species

19 Nov 2008, 3:10 pm   -   Source: AAP
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Australian and New Zealand researchers have used ancient DNA to identify a previously unknown penguin species, thought to have been extinct for 500 years.

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Australian and New Zealand researchers have used ancient DNA to identify a previously unknown penguin species, thought to have been extinct for 500 years.

The endangered yellow-eyed penguin was thought to be the only species to inhabit New Zealand.

But a team from the University of Adelaide and the University of Otago has found the remains of another species, extinct for more than 500 years.

The demise of the Waitaha penguin is now believed to correspond to the arrival of the first humans from Polynesia.

"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 sub-Antarctic relatively recently and replaced the extinct Waitaha penguin," team member Jeremy Austin said on Wednesday.

"Previous analysis of fossil records and anecdotal evidence suggested that the yellow-eyed penguin was more abundant and widespread in the past, but it now appears they have only been around for 500 years."

Dr Austin said his team identified the large-bodied Waitaha penguin using ancient DNA from fossilised bones.

Their studies suggested competition between the two species had initially prevented the yellow-eyed penguin from expanding northwards.

But the arrival of humans and the resultant changes in the predator population, may have allowed the yellow-eyed species to prevail.

Dr Austin said the discovery demonstrated the unexpected ways in which species could respond to human and environmental impacts.

The team's findings were published this week in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, an international biological research journal.

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