Northern Rockhopper Penguin - Taxonomy

Taxonomy

The Rockhopper Penguin Eudyptes chrysocome is sometimes considered two species, Northern and Southern Rockhopper Penguin, after research published in 2006 demonstrated morphological, vocal and genetic differences between the two populations. Molecular datings suggest that the genetic divergence with the Southern Rockhopper penguin may have been caused by a vicariant event caused by a shift in the position of the Subtropical Front during the mid-Pleistocene climate transition. Analysis of a part of a mitochondrial control region from a Northern Rockhopper Penguin found on the Kerguelen Islands showed that it may have come from Gough Island, 6,000 km away, and that the Southern and Northern Rockhoppers are genetically separate, though some individuals may disperse from their breeding colonies. Many taxonomists have yet to recognize the split, although some are beginning to do so.