Spheniscidae

Summary phylogenetic hypothesis based on the combined analysis of morphological, breeding, and mitochondrial DNA characters (Bertelli and Giannini, 2005).  All genera are clearly reciprocally monophyletic, however the root of the penguin tree is still unclear. The Snares Penguin, Eudyptes robustus, is now considered conspecific with the Fjordland Penguin, Eudyptes pachyrhynchus, and the Royal Penguin, Eudyptes schlegeli, is now considered conspecific with the Macaroni Penguin, Eudyptes chrysolophus (Christidis & Boles 2008).

Other Names for Spheniscidae

• Sphenisciformes Sharpe 1891
• Spheniscinae
• Vernacular Names: Penguins

References

Baker, A. J., S. L. Pereira, O. P. Haddrath, and K.-A. Edge. 2006. Multiple gene evidence for expansion of extant penguins out of Antarctica due to global cooling. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 273(1582):11-17.

Bertelli, S., and N. P. Giannini. 2005. A phylogeny of extant penguins (Aves: Sphenisciformes) combining morphology and mitochondrial sequences. Cladistics 21: 209-239.

Christidis, L. and W. Boles. 2008. Systematics and Taxonomy of Australian Birds. CSIRO Publishing, Collingwood, Australia.

Clarke, J. A., E. B. Olivero, and P. Puerta. 2003. Description of the earliest fossil penguin from South America and first Paleogene vertebrate locality of Tierra del Fuego, Argentina. American Museum Novitates 3423:1-18.

Dann, P., I. Norman, and P. Reilly, eds. 1995. The Penguins: Ecology and Management. Surrey Beatty & Sons, Sydney.

Davis, L. S. and J. Darby, eds. 1990. Penguin Biology. Academic Press, San Diego.

Giannini, N. P., and S. Bertelli. 2004. Phylogeny of extant penguins based on integumentary and breeding characters. The Auk 121: 422-434.

Gill, F. and M. Wright. 2006. Birds of the World: Recommended English Names. Princeton NJ: Princeton University Press.

Grant, W. S., D. C. Duffy, and R. W. Leslie. 1994. Allozyme phylogeny of Spheniscus penguins. The Auk 111: 716-270.

Marchant, S. and P. J. Higgins, eds. 1990. Handbook of Australian, New Zealand and Antarctic Birds. Vol 1. Oxford University Press, Melbourne.

Müller-Schwarze, D. 1984. The behavior of penguins: adapted to ice and tropics. State University of New York Press, Albany.

Nelson, J. B. 2006. Pelicans, Cormorants, and Their Relatives: The Pelecaniformes. Bird Families of the World. Oxford University Press, Oxford, New York.

O’Hara, R. J. 1989. An estimate of the phylogeny of the living penguins (Aves: Spheniscidae). Am. Zool. 29, 11A.

Raikow, R. J., L. Bicanovsky, and A. H. Bledsoe. 1988. Forelimb joint mobility and the evolution of wing-propelled diving in birds. Auk 105:446-451.

Reilly, P. 1994. Penguins of the World. Oxford University Press.

Schreiweis, D. O. 1982. A comparative study of the appendicular musculature of penguins (Aves: Sphenisciformes). Smithsonian Contrib. Zool. 341:1-46.

Simpson, G. G. 1946. Fossil Penguins. Bull. Am. Mus. Nat. Hist. 87, 1–100.

Simpson, G. G. 1972. Conspectus of Patagonian fossil penguins. Am. Mus. Nov. 2488, 1–37.

Simpson, G. G. 1976. Penguins: Past and Present, Here and There. Yale University Press, New Haven.

Stonehouse, B. 1975. The biology of penguins. University Park Press, Baltimore.

Williams, T. D. 1995. The Penguins. Oxford University Press, New York.

Woehler, E. J. 1993. The Distribution and Abundance of Antarctic and Subantarctic Penguins. University Printing Services, Cambridge.

Zusi, R. L. 1975. An interpretation of skull structure in penguins. In: Stonehouse, B. (Ed.), The Biology of Penguins. University Park Press, Baltimore, MD, pp. 59–84.

Information on the Internet

• International Penguin Conservation Work Group
• Antarctica: Valued, Protected, Understood: Penguins. Australian Government Antarctic Division.
• Order Sphenisciformes. Animal Diversity Web.
• Penguins InfoBook. SeaWorld/Busch Gardens.
• Adaptation. The Case of Penguins. Visionlearning.
• New Zealand Penguins
• Falklands.net
• Falklands Penguins
• Nature: The World of Penguins. PBS.
• KidZone: Penguins
• Penguins Around the World
• Pete & Barb's Penguin Pages
• PenguinWorld.com