Hoiho
| Yellow-eyed penguin | |
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Sphenisciformes |
| Family: | Spheniscidae |
| Genus: |
Megadyptes Milne-Edwards, 1880 |
| Species: | M. antipodes |
| Binomial name | |
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Megadyptes antipodes (Hombron & Jacquinot, 1841) |
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| Distribution of Yellow-eyed penguin | |
The yellow-eyed penguin (Megadyptes antipodes) or hoiho is a penguin native to New Zealand. Previously thought closely related to the little penguin (Eudyptula minor), molecular research has shown it more closely related to penguins of the genus Eudyptes. Like most other penguins, it is mainly piscivorous.
The species breeds along the eastern and south-eastern coastlines of the South Island of New Zealand, as well as Stewart Island, Auckland Islands, and Campbell Islands. Colonies on the Otago Peninsula are a popular tourist venue, where visitors may closely observe penguins from hides, trenches, or tunnels.
On the New Zealand mainland, the species has experienced a significant decline over the past 20 years. On the Otago Peninsula, numbers have dropped by 75% since the mid-1990s and population trends indicate the possibility of local extinction in the next 20 to 40 years. While rising ocean temperatures play an important role, it appears that human activities at sea (fisheries, pollution) may have an equal if not greater influence on the species' downward trend .
The yellow-eyed penguin is the sole extant species in the genus Megadyptes. (A smaller, recently extinct species, M. waitaha, was discovered in 2008.) Previously thought closely related to the little penguin (Eudyptula minor), new molecular research has shown it more closely related to penguins of the genus Eudyptes. and nuclear DNA evidence suggests it split from the ancestors of Eudyptes around 15 million years ago.
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Wikipedia