Pygoscelis

Brush-tailed penguins Temporal range: Eocene to present
Pygoscelis antarctica
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Subphylum:	Vertebrata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Sphenisciformes
Family:	Spheniscidae
Genus:	Pygoscelis Wagler, 1832
Species
Pygoscelis adeliae Pygoscelis antarctica Pygoscelis papua †Pygoscelis tyreei (fossil) †Pygoscelis calderensis (fossil) †Pygoscelis grandis (fossil)

The genus Pygoscelis ("rump-legged") contains three living species of penguins collectively known as "brush-tailed penguins".^[1]

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.^[2]

The three extant species are:

• Adélie 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)
• Pygoscelis tyreei (Pliocene of New Zealand)

The latter two are tentatively assigned to this genus.

Species photographs

Photographs of adult penguins of the extant (living) species:

• The three extant species of the genus
• 
  Chinstrap penguin
  Pygoscelis antarctica
• 
  Gentoo penguin
  Pygoscelis papua
• 
  Adélie penguin
  Pygoscelis adeliae

References

1. "Pygoscelis". www.pinguins.info. 2000. Retrieved 2016-10-02.
2. Baker AJ, Pereira SL, Haddrath OP, Edge KA (2006). "Multiple gene evidence for expansion of extant penguins out of Antarctica due to global cooling". Proc Biol Sci. 273 (1582): 11–17. doi:10.1098/rspb.2005.3260. PMC 1560011. PMID 16519228.