NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Herald NOW
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Quizzes
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather
  • Opinion
  • Podcasts

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Herald NOW
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Politics
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Herald NOW
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
    • Cooking the Books
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / New Zealand

Can Aotearoa lay claim to Australia’s little penguin?

Jamie Morton
By Jamie Morton
Multimedia Journalist·NZ Herald·
27 Jun, 2023 04:18 AM4 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

The newly-described penguin Eudyptula wilsonae – which inhabited Aotearoa’s shores some three million years ago and has just been described in a new study – is closely related to the little blue penguins alive today. Image / Simone Giovanardi
The newly-described penguin Eudyptula wilsonae – which inhabited Aotearoa’s shores some three million years ago and has just been described in a new study – is closely related to the little blue penguins alive today. Image / Simone Giovanardi

The newly-described penguin Eudyptula wilsonae – which inhabited Aotearoa’s shores some three million years ago and has just been described in a new study – is closely related to the little blue penguins alive today. Image / Simone Giovanardi

There’s a fresh twist in the curious history of the little blue penguin, with new evidence to suggest Australia’s population of the tiny seabirds might ultimately hail back to an Aotearoa ancestor.

Their study, describing a new but long extinct species, is the latest to have widened our understanding of the prehistoric origins of what are the smallest – and possibly the cutest - penguins living today.

Once thought to have been a single species, little penguins have been revealed by DNA analyses to be two genetically distinct populations: New Zealand’s Eudyptula minor, or kororā, and Australia’s Eudyptula novaehollandiae.

To make things more confusing, an Otago population was also found to be Eudyptula novaehollandiae, with research indicating these tiny Aussie immigrants arrived as recently as the past few hundred years.

The latest study, just published in the Journal of Paleontology, takes the story back even further, to the late Pliocene, more than three million years ago, when Aotearoa – part of the vast and now largely sunken continent Te Riu-a-Māui/Zealandia - was an entirely different world.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

It was in this period of our country’s geological history – when local sea surface temperatures were up to 3C warmer than today – that we would have found the penguin species Eudyptula wilsonae roaming shorelines.

Thought to have been around the same size as today’s kororā, the species was discovered from fossils found within the rohe of Ngāti Ruanui and Ngāruahine in South Taranaki, as part of a larger project led by Te Papa Tongarewa’s Alan Tennyson and Felix Marx.

The prehistoric penguin species Eudyptula wilsonae has been described in a new study. Image / Simone Giovanardi
The prehistoric penguin species Eudyptula wilsonae has been described in a new study. Image / Simone Giovanardi

Having been collected by Taranaki local Karl Raubenheimer, the fossils were passed to Tennyson, then eventually photographed, 3D-scanned and measured by Massey University’s Dr Daniel Thomas and colleagues.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

“By comparing these fossils to bones from living and extinct penguins and other birds we were able to determine that they were a Eudyptula penguin, like kororā,” said Thomas, the lead author of the new paper.

“We recognised that these fossils belonged to a new species, one with a narrower skull than living kororā.”

The discovery revealed that little penguins like kororā had probably been part of the coastal ecosystems of Aotearoa for the entire time since.

“These fossils and the many others from coastal Taranaki are helping us to recognise that Zealandia has been an important area for seabirds for millions of years.”

The fossils happened to be the earliest evidence of little penguins in the fossil record: the only one smaller known to scientists is Eretiscus, which lived around 22 million years ago in Argentina.

“Eretiscus is an extinct lineage of penguins with no living descendants, whereas Eudyptula wilsonae is very closely related to living kororā.”

Did that mean that Aotearoa could ultimately also lay claim to Australia’s little penguins?

Thomas said that, with the current absence of even older Eudyptula fossils from the Australian fossil record, it was indeed possible Australian little penguins were descendants of a species that once lived here.

Yet, many questions remained.

For instance, Eudyptula were closely related – and more than any other living species – to Spheniscus penguins, which today are found in South Africa and South America, including the famous Galápagos Islands.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Once thought to have been a single species, little penguins have been revealed by DNA analyses to be two genetically distinct populations: New Zealand’s Eudyptula minor, or kororā (pictured) and Australia’s Eudyptula novaehollandiae. Photo / Supplied
Once thought to have been a single species, little penguins have been revealed by DNA analyses to be two genetically distinct populations: New Zealand’s Eudyptula minor, or kororā (pictured) and Australia’s Eudyptula novaehollandiae. Photo / Supplied

“Spheniscus is an ancient lineage for South America, and so we hypothesise that an ancestor to Eudyptula dispersed from South America at least three million years ago and arrived into Oceania,” Thomas said.

“But when? And was it a little Eudyptula-sized penguin that dispersed, or a medium, Spheniscus-sized penguin that subsequently became smaller when it arrived into Zealandia?

“When and why was this lineage from South America recruited into the seabird biodiversity hotspot of Zealandia?

“These are open questions that await further discoveries.”

The newly-described penguin, along with the other last warm-world fauna of Zealandia, were also important to help scientists understand how wildlife communities might change over the coming century.

“With millions of years of environmental change now being compressed into just a few human lifetimes, rising temperatures are enabling tropical animals to expand their ranges, leading to potentially irrevocable changes in wildlife communities in Aotearoa and other higher latitude locations,” Thomas said.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

“So how might biodiversity evolve as temperatures rise by 2C or more over the next century?

“Analysing a fossilised snapshot of the last warm world fauna is an important part of developing a biodiversity forecast.”

Save

    Share this article

Latest from New Zealand

New Zealand

'Just hoping I'd get home': Passenger describes aborted landing on bumpy flight

26 May 02:30 AM
New ZealandUpdated

'Lifting a dark cloud': Bar thrives after ditching pokies

26 May 02:14 AM
New ZealandUpdated

Controversial plan to move prisoner reintegration facility takes next step

26 May 02:13 AM

The Hire A Hubby hero turning handyman stereotypes on their head

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Recommended for you
'Lifting a dark cloud': Bar thrives after ditching pokies
Bay of Plenty Times

'Lifting a dark cloud': Bar thrives after ditching pokies

26 May 02:14 AM
Controversial plan to move prisoner reintegration facility takes next step
Rotorua Daily Post

Controversial plan to move prisoner reintegration facility takes next step

26 May 02:13 AM
Grounded: Pilot academy investigated after safety complaints
Whanganui Chronicle

Grounded: Pilot academy investigated after safety complaints

26 May 02:08 AM
Multiple injuries reported after three-vehicle crash blocks SH1 near Taihape
New Zealand

Multiple injuries reported after three-vehicle crash blocks SH1 near Taihape

26 May 02:02 AM
'A real boost': Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch celebrating summer of success
Entertainment

'A real boost': Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch celebrating summer of success

26 May 02:00 AM

Latest from New Zealand

'Just hoping I'd get home': Passenger describes aborted landing on bumpy flight

'Just hoping I'd get home': Passenger describes aborted landing on bumpy flight

26 May 02:30 AM

Bumpy flight for basketball boss: “This one was one of the worst”.

'Lifting a dark cloud': Bar thrives after ditching pokies

'Lifting a dark cloud': Bar thrives after ditching pokies

26 May 02:14 AM
Controversial plan to move prisoner reintegration facility takes next step

Controversial plan to move prisoner reintegration facility takes next step

26 May 02:13 AM
Grounded: Pilot academy investigated after safety complaints

Grounded: Pilot academy investigated after safety complaints

26 May 02:08 AM
Gold demand soars amid global turmoil
sponsored

Gold demand soars amid global turmoil

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • What the Actual
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven CarGuide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP
search by queryly Advanced Search