Northern & Southern Rockhopper Penguins

The largest genus of penguins is Eudyptes, and among the more well known are the rockhoppers. Until recently, there was thought to be a single species of rockhopper (Eudyptes chrysocome) widely distributed in the southern oceans, but populations from certain northern islands were separated; these northern rockhoppers became known as Eudyptes moseleyi. This status is still disputed, however, but I maintain the northern and southern rockhoppers as different species here.

Northern rockhopper penguin
Eudyptes moseleyi Mathews & Iredale, 1921



Adult northern rockhopper penguin (Eudyptes moseleyi)

Distribution: restricted to Tristan da Cunha (South Atlantic), Gough (South Atlantic), Amsterdam Island (South Indian) and St. Paul Island (South Indian).

Size: in the range of 45-58 cm (17½-23”); exact measurements unknown.

Habitat: rugged terrain, talus slopes and tussocks.

Diet: unknown, but probably the same as E. chrysocome.

Etymology: Eudyptes = “good diver” in Greek; moseleyi = named in honour of Henry Nottidge Moseley. 

Notes: Recently separated from other rockhopper penguins as a species in its own right – has a longer and more luxuriant crest than Eudyptes chrysocome; it is becoming rare on Tristan da Cunha due to incidental mortality from drift-net fishing.

Southern rockhopper penguin
Eudyptes chrysocome (Forster, 1781)



Adult southern rockhopper penguins (Eudyptes chrysocome); E. c. filholi above and E. c. chrysocome below.

Distribution: circumpolar; breeds on sub-Antarctic and south temperate islands to Heard Island (53^oS); winter range unknown.

Size: 45-58 cm (17½-23”); smallest Eudyptes penguin; males up to 4.3 kg (9½lb), females up to 3.6 kg (8 lb).

Habitat: waters of sub-Antarctic north of limit of pack-ice; breeds in rugged terrain, level or gently sloping, talus slopes or steep slopes with tussock; sometimes far from the sea (i.e. on Campbell Island), and up to 60 m above sea level on Marion Island.

Diet: krill, small fish and cephalopods (squid) as well as amphipods and hippolytid crustaceans (shrimp).

Etymology: Eudyptes = as E. moseleyi; chrysocome = “golden hair” in Greek.

Subspecies: E. c. chrysocome = Falkland Islands and islands off Cape Horn; superciliary stripe broad; E. c. filholi = Marion, Crozet, Kerguelen, Heard, Macquarie, Campbell, Auckland and Antipodes; has pink margins to bill.

Notes: Eudyptes chrysocome has been reported to hybridise with the macaroni penguin (E. chrysolophus), erect-crested penguin (E. sclateri) and royal penguin (E. schlegeli).



Southern rockhopper penguin chicks (Eudyptes chrysocome) of different ages

Gentoo & Yellow-eyed Penguins

Penguins five and six are the gentoo (Pygoscelis papua) and the yellow-eyed (Megadyptes antipodes).

Gentoo penguin
Pygoscelis papua (Forster, 1781)



Adult gentoo penguin (Pygoscelis papua)

Distribution: circumpolar, breeding on sub-Antarctic islands & Antarctic Peninsula (46-65^oS); non-breeding range poorly known but they are mostly sedentary; vagrant to 43^oS Argentina, Australia and New Zealand.

Size: 75-90 cm (29½-35½”); largest penguin in the genus Pygoscelis; males weigh up to 8.5 kg (18½ lb); females up to 8.2 kg (18 lb).

Habitat: breeds on ice-free ground, sometimes considerably inland, but at other times coastal; also beaches, headlands, valleys and hillocks.

Diet: krill and fish as well as amphipods and cephalopods (squid).

Etymology: Pygoscelis = "rump leg" in Greek; papua = from Papua New Guinea (obviously a misnomer).

Subspecies: Pygoscelis papua papua = Falklands, South Georgia, Kerguelen, Heard, Macquarie & Staten; P. p. ellsworthi = Antarctic Peninsula, South Shetlands, South Orkneys – smaller than P. p. papua but with no plumage differences.



Gentoo penguin chicks (Pygoscelis papua) of different ages

Yellow-eyed penguin
Megadyptes antipodes (Hombron & Jacquinot, 1841)



Adult yellow-eyed penguin (Megadyptes antipodes)

Distribution: endemic to New Zealand – confined to SE South Island from 45^o45’S to Stewart, Auckland and Campbell Islands; non-breeding range poorly known but could extend to Cook Strait.

Size: 56-78 cm (22-31”); males larger and heavier than females; males up to 8.9 kg (19½ lb); females up to 8.4 kg (18½ lb).

Habitat: cool temperate waters around breeding area; usually breeds in coastal/podocarp forests, open forest, pasture and cliffs as well as bays, headlands, slopes and gullies.

Diet: pelagic and demersal fish (such as blue cod) and cephalopods (squid).

Etymology: Megadyptes = “great diver” in Greek; antipodes = from the other side of the world (Southern Hemisphere), literally “opposite feet” in Greek.



Yellow-eyed penguin chicks (Megadyptes antipodes) of different ages

Adélie & Chinstrap Penguins

More penguins, this time the Adélie (Pygoscelis adeliae) and the chinstrap (P. antarctica).

Adélie penguin
Pygoscelis adeliae (Hombron & Jacquinot, 1841)


Adult Adélie penguin (Pygoscelis adeliae)

Distribution: circumpolar (77-54^oS); non-breeding distribution not past limit of pack-ice, but vagrant to South America, Australia, New Zealand and sub-Antarctic islands.

Size: 70 cm (27½’’); smallest of the three members of the genus Pygoscelis; males are significantly larger than females, males up to 5.4 kg (12 lb) and females up to 4.7 kg (10 lb).

Habitat: usually heavy pack-ice; breeds on rocky islands, peninsulas, beaches and slopes etc.

Diet: krill, fish and squid.

Etymology: Pygoscelis = “rump leg” in Greek; adeliae = after Jules Dumont d’Urville’s wife Adélie.


Adélie penguin chicks (Pygoscelis adeliae) of different ages

Chinstrap penguin
Pygoscelis antarctica (Forster, 1781)


Adult chinstrap penguin (Pygoscelis antarctica)

Distribution: circumpolar south of Antarctic Convergence (the area where the cold Antarctic waters meet the warmer northern oceans) to 64^oS and sub-Antarctic islands, Cape Horn and Heard Island; non-breeding range poorly known but good dispersers; vagrant to Australia.

Size: 71-76 cm (28-29”); males up to 5.3 kg (11½ lb); females up to 4.5 kg (10 lb).

Habitat: light pack-ice in Weddell Sea, never open water or heavy pack-ice there; breeds on ice-free coasts with steep slopes.

Diet: krill, fish and amphipods.

Etymology: Pygoscelis = as P. adeliae; antarctica = from Antarctica.


Juvenile chinstrap penguins (Pygoscelis antarctica) of different ages

Emperor & King Penguins

Here is the first in a series of profiles on the penguins. Today’s penguins belong to the genus Aptenodytes, and are arguably the most well known and distinctive, the emperor (A. forsteri) and the king (A. patagonicus).

Emperor penguin
Aptenodytes forsteri (Gray, 1844)


Adult emperor penguin (Aptenodytes forsteri)

Distribution: Antarctica (between 66^oS & 78^oS); vagrant to South Georgia, Heard Island & New Zealand.

Size: 100-130 cm (40-50”); the largest penguin. Males can weigh up to 40 kg (88 lb); females no more than 32 kg (70 lb).

Habitat: restricted to pack-ice of Antarctica, as well as sea-ice, and very occasionally on land.

Diet: nototheniid fish, small cephalopods (squid) and crustaceans (such as amphipods and krill).

Etymology: Aptenodytes = ‘wingless diver’ in Greek; forsteri = after John Reinhold Forster.


Emperor penguin chick (Aptenodytes forsteri)

King penguin
Aptenodytes patagonicus Miller, 1778


Adult king penguin (Aptenodytes patagonicus)

Distribution: most sub-Antarctic islands between 45 and 55^oS, Heard and Falkland Islands; formerly bred on Tierra del Fuego; non-breeding range encompasses South Atlantic, South Indian and Southern Oceans.

Size: 85-95 cm (33-37”); the second largest penguin; males weigh up to 17.3 kg (38 lb); females up to 16.2 kg (35 lb).

Habitat: usually water free of pack-ice; breeding on bare ground with gentle slopes and level areas; at Heard Island, several hundred metres from the sea in tussock grass; at Crozet Island, mostly on beaches.

Diet: mostly small myctophiid fish and cephalopods (squid)

Etymology: Aptenodytes = as A. forsteri; patagonicus = from Patagonia (southern South America).


King penguin chick (Aptenodytes patagonicus)

A note about the artwork: I originally drew these in 2006/2007 whilst still doing my undergrad at Anglia Ruskin; the drawings are copied from the penguin monograph by Wayne Lynch.

Troodos Lizard

Troodos lizard
Phoenicolacerta troodica (Werner, 1936)
Lacertidae; Squamata; Sauropsida; Chordata
Bellapais Abbey, near Kyrenia, North Cyprus
October 2008

Like the Cyprus pied wheatear featured not long ago, the Troodos lizard is an endemic species to Cyprus. It was formerly considered (and still is, by some herpetologists) to be merely a subspecies of the Lebanon lizard (P. laevis). The genus Phoenicolacerta was only recently (2007) separated from the now-divorced Lacerta, which used to contain the common lizard amongst other European species. 

I am not sure whether the pictured animals are males or females, but there does appear to be a difference between the red-backed forms and those with red on their sides. In the breeding season, it is easier to tell the sexes apart, as the males turn green with blue heads, while the females are duller.

P. troodica is also the smallest of the four types of lizard I saw on the island, the only other one of comparable size I saw was the ubiquitous Schreiber’s fringe-toed lizard (Acanthodactylus schreiberi) which will get its own feature here shortly! The agama (Laudakia stellio) is usually larger, although the juveniles were commonly the same size as P. troodica and A. schreiberi, but are very different looking, with toad-like heads and diamond patterns on the back. I don’t think anybody could confuse any of these lizards with the chameleon though!

Art #11 - Solnhofen Scene

“Solnhofen Scene”
Coloured pencil illustration, October 2008 

Here is my first attempt at creating a realistic Jurassic scene in coloured pencil. What you see is an example of the animals and plants that lived in Bavaria during the Jurassic (I am not too sure if the plants pictured were found there at that time, but I am not a palaeobotanist, nor do I strive to be!). 

In the air we have Rhamphorhynchus (the flying reptile with a long tail and a brown body), and behind it is Pterodactylus (with purple “fur”). In the sea is Aegirosaurus, an ichthyosaur. Flying in the foreground with blue and white plumage is Archaeopteryx, and running on the ground are Compsognathus chasing Bavarisaurus. The plants are, from left: a cycad; a tree fern; a horsetail; and a Norfolk Island pine.

Solnhofen is the name of a town in Bavaria in southern Germany. It is in a limestone quarry near to Solnhofen that the fossils of the above animals were found, some in almost immaculate condition. It is believed that Bavaria at the time was a tropical archipelago with saltwater lagoons. The lagoons would harbour few bacteria as the salinity of the water would have been too high to support even brine shrimp. As a result, any animal that fell in (alive or dead) would have been well preserved. 

European Chameleon

European chameleon
Chamaeleo chamaeleon Linnaeus, 1758
Chamaeleonidae; Squamata; Sauropsida; Chordata
near Famagusta, North Cyprus
October 2008 

Chameleons are (said very scientifically) a cool bunch of animals. They are an instantly recognisable group of lizards: they are most well known for their ability to change colour at will, and their loopy eyes that can face any direction independently of each other. They are also known for their super-elastic tongue and unusual grasping feet and curly prehensile tail. 

The hotspot for chameleon diversity is Madagascar, with about 70 species including the world’s smallest and the world’s largest. Elsewhere they are found in Africa, southern Europe and Asia. The European (or common) chameleon pictured is found in Greece, some Greek islands, Malta, Portugal, Spain, Cyprus, North Africa and the Middle East as far as Iran, and is often split into four subspecies: the Cyprus population would belong to C. c. recticrista. 

Cyprus Pied Wheatear

Long time no blog! In celebration of my voyage to Northern Cyprus earlier this month, I will be blogging on a variety of the natural wonders of that country. Today’s post will be on the Cyprus pied wheatear (Oenanthe cypriaca).

Cyprus pied wheatear
Oenanthe cypriaca (Horneyer, 1884)
Muscicapidae; Passeriformes; Aves; Chordata
Kyrenia, North Cyprus
October 2008 

The Cyprus pied wheatear is a small bird related to the robins and chats such as stonechats and whinchats. It is one of only two so-called breeding endemic species of bird in Cyprus. This means that they spend the summer months (up to October it seems) only in Cyprus. They migrate to Sudan to spend the winter. The other bird is the Cyprus warbler (Sylvia melanothorax), which I unfortunately didn’t see.

This bird is a female, you can see a dusky cap with white border (more white in the male), and buff-rufous underparts which are less extensive in males. 

Pet Biography #3: Dolly

Dolly, born 31st March 1997, is Scarlett's daughter. She's a sprightly, agile, playful feline that does not look her age. She just looks like a big kitten, and often acts like it too. She is the most social and people-loving of the three cats, and often goes to her mum for an allogrooming session, and can tolerate Sapphire to the point of sleeping on the same bed (my bed is quite small). She is always the first to greet strangers, to the point of ignoring me! I have a very close bond with Dolly, and we know each other quite well. In that way, I mean that I know where she'll be most of the time and how to react to her odd moods, and she knows that if she wants stroking, all she has to do is roll onto her back and show off her lily-white belly, curl her tail into an alluring question mark, and close on eye, purring like a jackhammer. Then I'll immediately stop what I'm doing and give her some attention.

Dolly's oddest quirk is that she hates anybody touching her tail. She tolerates it for a short while, then starts to grumble and then hiss, but never bites. She goes off in a huff, exhales in a uniquely Dollyish way, then 30 seconds to a minute later, she's back. Then you touch the tail again, then she's off. I think the cause of this "don't touch my tail" nonsense is that she was bitten by something as a kitten and had to have a few visits to the vet for infection. Luckily, she still has her tail, but it does seem to have a mind of its own. Scarlett, on the other hand, would let you curl her tail around your finger and not bat an eyelid, back when she had one of course.

Dolly likes popcorn, crisps, pretty much any other savoury snack, anything that moves, my bed and hiding underneath the card table with a green tablecloth in the living room. She mainly uses that area as a hiding place for when it's time to go outside and she doesn't want to be found, but has also found another use for it. Sapphire often brutishly chases the other two around the house, the only time he gets any exercise, the fat slob... and Dolly got her own back once by lashing out at Saff when he walked past the table.

Art #10: Acadoparadoxides

"Acadoparadoxides"

Coloured pencil illustration, August 2008

Acadoparadoxides Snajdr 1957

 

A drawing of what the wonderful Acadoparadoxides trilobite would have looked like in life, in colours I think are neat. Acadoparadoxides dates from an awe-inspiring 530 million years ago, and was found in Morocco (not by me, I purchased the above specimen from eBay). Of course, Morocco was then underwater, and must have remained so until at least the Devonian period millions of years later, as trilobites from that period have also been found there.