Penguins are a group of aquatic flightless birds from the family Spheniscidae of the order Sphenisciformes. They live almost exclusively in the Southern Hemisphere: only one species, the Galápagos penguin, is found north of the Equator. Highly adapted for life in the ocean water, penguins have countershaded dark and white plumage and flippers for swimming. Most penguins feed on krill, fish, squid and other forms of sea life which they catch with their bills and swallow whole while swimming. A penguin has a spiny tongue and powerful jaws to grip slippery prey.
The yellow-eyed penguin, known also as hoiho, is a species of penguin endemic to New Zealand. It is the sole extant species in the genus Megadyptes.
The genus Aptenodytes contains two extant species of penguins collectively known as "the great penguins".
The genus Pygoscelis ("rump-legged") contains three living species of penguins collectively known as "brush-tailed penguins".
Eudyptes is a genus of penguins whose members are collectively called crested penguins. The exact number of species in the genus varies between four and seven depending on the authority, and a Chatham Islands species became extinct in recent centuries. All are black and white penguins with yellow crests, red bills and eyes, and are found on Subantarctic islands in the world's southern oceans. All lay two eggs, but raise only one young per breeding season; the first egg laid is substantially smaller than the second.
The genus Eudyptula contains two species of penguin, found in southern Australia, Tasmania, and New Zealand. They are commonly known as the little penguin, little blue penguin, or, in Australia, fairy penguin. In the language of the Māori people of New Zealand, little penguins are known as kororā.
Korora oliveri, also referred to as Oliver's penguin, is a genus and species of extinct penguin from the Waitakian Stage of New Zealand. It was relatively small and slender, similar in size to one of the larger crested penguins. The penguin was described by Brian Marples in 1952 from fossil material he collected in the Hakataramea Valley, in the Canterbury region of the South Island. The genus name Korora is the Māori term for the extant little penguin. The specific epithet honours Walter Oliver (1883–1957) a former director of the Dominion Museum.
Pachydyptes, also known as the New Zealand giant penguin is an extinct genus of penguin. This taxon is known from a few bones from Late Eocene rocks in the area of Otago, which were found in two clades near a base of a tree.
Archaeospheniscus is an extinct genus of large penguins. It currently contains three species, known from somewhat fragmentary remains. A. wimani, the smallest species, was found in Middle or Late Eocene strata of the La Meseta Formation on Seymour Island, Antarctica, whereas the other two, about the size of a modern emperor penguin, are known from bones recovered from the Late Oligocene Kokoamu Greensand Formation at Duntroon, New Zealand.
Palaeeudyptinae, the giant penguins, is a paraphyletic subfamily of prehistoric penguins. It includes several genera of medium-sized to very large species, such as Icadyptes salasi, Palaeeudyptes marplesi, Anthropornis nordenskjoeldi, and Pachydyptes ponderosus. Icadyptes reached 1.5 m in height, while members of Palaeeudyptes and Anthropornis grew even taller and were some of the largest penguins to have ever existed. The massive P. ponderosus may have weighed at least as much as an adult human.
The Chatham penguin, also known as the Chatham crested penguin, Chatham Islands penguin, or Warham's penguin, is an extinct species of crested penguin previously endemic to the Chatham Islands of New Zealand. It is known only from subfossil bones and probably became extinct within 150–200 years after Polynesians arrived in the Chatham Islands around 1500 CE.
Kaiika is an extinct genus of basal penguin from Early Eocene deposits of South Canterbury, New Zealand. It is known only from a single humerus. It was found in 1998 by Dr Phillip Maxwell, a paleontologist and stratigrapher, from the Kauru Formation of the Canterbury Basin, near the Waihao River. It was first named by Ewan Fordyce and Daniel Thomas in 2011 and the type species is Kaiika maxwelli. Kaiika is one of the oldest penguins known.
Kairuku is an extinct genus of penguin. It contains three species, K. grebneffi, K. waitaki and K. waewaeroa. This taxon is known from bones from 27 MYA, from the Kokoamu Greensand Formation of New Zealand. It was historically referred to as Palaeeudyptes.
Marplesornis novaezealandiae, also referred to as Harris's penguin, is a genus and species of extinct penguin from New Zealand. It was a relatively large penguin, about the same size as a king penguin. The age of the only known specimen is uncertain, being often mentioned as Late Pliocene in age. However, due to the complex geology of the collection site, its actual age is somewhere between Early Miocene and Late Pliocene.
Duntroonornis parvus, also referred to as the Duntroon penguin, is a genus and species of extinct penguin from the Late Oligocene of New Zealand. The penguin was relatively small, similar in size to the Fiordland crested penguin. It was described by Brian Marples in 1952 from fossil material collected near Duntroon, from the Kokoamu Greensand Formation, near the border between the Canterbury and Otago regions of the South Island. Fossils found at the Hakataramea Valley may also be referrable to this species. The genus name Duntroonornis means "Duntroon bird". The specific epithet is the Latin parvus ("small").
Platydyptes is a genus of extinct penguins from the Late Oligocene to Early Miocene of New Zealand. It was created by Brian Marples in 1952 and contains three relatively large species, all of which were described from the north Otago to south Canterbury region in the South Island. The genus name Platydyptes combines the Greek platys, alluding to the shape of the humerus, with dyptes ("diver").
Tereingaornis moisleyi, also referred to as Moisley's penguin, is a genus and species of extinct penguin from the Middle Pliocene of New Zealand. It was slightly smaller than the extant Fiordland crested penguin. It was described by Ron Scarlett in 1983 from fossil material found by William Moisley near Te Reinga Falls on the Wairoa River, in the Hawke's Bay Region of the North Island. Another specimen was found later at Waihi Beach, Hāwera, on the South Taranaki Bight. The genus name Tereingaornis combines the name of the type locality with the Greek ornis ("bird"); the specific epithet honours the discoverer of the fossil.
Kumimanu is an extinct genus of giant penguin, which lived around 56 to 60 million years ago. The type species is K. biceae, which arose after the extinction of the non-avian dinosaurs. Fossils were found in New Zealand, and the discovery was announced in December 2017. A second species, Kumimanu fordycei, was named in February 2023.
Muriwaimanu is an extinct genus of early penguin from the Paleocene Waipara Greensand of New Zealand. Only the type species M. tuatahi is known.
Sequiwaimanu is an extinct genus of early penguin from the Waipara Greensand of New Zealand. The type species, S. rosieae, was named and described by Gerald Mayr in 2018.
