Pygoscelis

Taxobox
name = Brush-tailed penguins

---

image_width = 240px
image_caption = "Pygoscelis antarctica"
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
subphylum = Vertebrata
classis = Aves
ordo = Sphenisciformes
familia = Spheniscidae
genus = "Pygoscelis"
genus_authority = Wagler, 1832
subdivision_ranks = Species
subdivision = "Pygoscelis adeliae"
"Pygoscelis antarctica"
"Pygoscelis papua"
"Pygoscelis tyreei" (fossil)
"Pygoscelis calderensis" (fossil)
"Pygoscelis grandis" (fossil)

The genus Pygoscelis ("elbow-legged") contains three living species of penguins collectively known as "The Brush-Tailed Penguins". Their appearance - black above, white below - is that of what most people think of when they think of penguins.

Taxonomy

Mitochondrial and nuclear DNA evidence suggests the genus split from other penguins around 38 million years ago, about 2 million years after the ancestors of the genus "Aptenodytes". In turn, the Adelie Penguins split off from the other members of the genus around 19 million years ago. [cite journal |author=Baker AJ, Pereira SL, Haddrath OP, Edge KA|year=2006|title=Multiple gene evidence for expansion of extant penguins out of Antarctica due to global cooling |journal=Proc Biol Sci. |volume=273 |issue=1582|pages=11–17|doi=10.1098/rspb.2005.3260 |url=http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=1560011 |accessdate=2008-03-21|pmid=16519228]

The three extant species are:
* Adelie Penguin, "Pygoscelis adeliae"
* Chinstrap Penguin, "Pygoscelis antarctica"
* Gentoo Penguin, "Pygoscelis papua"

Extinct species:
* "Pygoscelis grandis" (Bahía Inglesa Formation, Late Miocene/Early Pliocene of Bahía Inglesa, Chile)
* "Pygoscelis calderensis" (Bahía Inglesa Formation, Late Miocene of Bahía Inglesa, Chile)
* Tyree's Penguin, "Pygoscelis tyreei" (Pliocene of New Zealand)

The latter two are tentatively assigned to this genus.

pecies photographs

Photographs of adult penguins of the extant (living) species:
Chinstrap Penguin "Pygoscelis antarctica"
Gentoo Penguin "Pygoscelis papua"
Adelie Penguin "Pygoscelis adeliae"

References