WCS 3-Sentence Science

Sifting Through the Rockhopper Penguin Clan

December 26, 2019

CREDIT: GRAHAM HARRIS/WCS

Each year, Wildlife Conservation Society scientists publish more than 300 peer-reviewed studies and papers. “WCS 3-Sentence Science” is a regular tip-sheet — in bite sized helpings — of some of this published work.

Here we present work by WCS’s Alejandro Kusch and Andrea Raya Rey on rockhopper penguin taxonomy.

1. Rockhopper penguins are delimited as two species: the northern rockhopper (Eudyptes moseleyi) and the southern rockhopper (Eudyptes chrysocome), with the latter comprising two subspecies, the western rockhopper (Eudyptes chrysocome chrysocome) and the eastern rockhopper (Eudyptes chrysocome filholi).
2. Researchers sampled 114 individuals across 12 colonies from the entire range of the northern/southern rockhopper complex to assess population structure, gene flow and species limit.
3. Their findings suggest that the current taxonomic definitions within rockhopper penguins be upheld and that southern rockhopper populations, all found south of the subtropical front, should be treated as a single taxon with distinct management units for the western rockhopper and eastern rockhopper.

Study and Journal: “Phylogeography, population structure, and species delimitation in rockhopper penguins (Eudyptes chrysocome and Eudyptes moseleyi)” from Journal of Heredity
WCS Co-Author(s): Alejandro Kusch, Research Coordinator, WCS Chile; Andrea Raya Rey, WCS Argentina

For more information, contact: Stephen Sautner, 718–220–3682, ssautner@wcs.org.