Genetic study recognizes southeastern gentoo as a species

Researchers have recognized the southeastern gentoo penguin as a distinct species, concluding that gentoo penguins comprise four species rather than one. The classification follows genomic analysis that found clear genetic differences among populations long grouped together because they look similar. The newly recognized species, Pygoscelis kerguelensis, lives on the Kerguelen Islands in the southern Indian Ocean. The study, published in Communications Biology in 2026, distinguishes it from the northern gentoo, Pygoscelis papua; the southern gentoo, Pygoscelis ellsworthi; and the eastern gentoo, Pygoscelis taeniata. Researchers analyzed genomic data from 64 penguins at 10 breeding colonies, sampling almost the known range of gentoo penguins, according to accounts of the study. The four lineages are estimated to have diverged roughly 300,000 to 500,000 years ago. That estimate describes the groups’ evolutionary separation, not the time when scientists identified the southeastern gentoo as a species. The southeastern gentoo is considered a cryptic species: it resembles related penguins closely, while genetic evidence indicates a separate lineage.