Daniel Ksepka, PhD, is the Curator of Science at the Bruce Museum. Ksepka earned his PhD in Earth and Environmental Sciences from Columbia University in 2007 and spent five years in residence at the American Museum of Natural History in New York, where he performed his dissertation research on the fossil record of penguins and gained broad experience in the curation and study of natural history objects including fossils, skeletal materials, skins and geological specimens.

Over the next couple posts, Daniel will share information about prehistoric penguins. Learn more about penguins, their ancestors, their physiology and their biology. Visit the Aquarium! Keep reading for more about the first penguins in the fossil record.

Penguins have a remarkable family tree. Today, there are 18 officially recognized species of penguin spread throughout the Southern Hemisphere. Each of these species is unique, and together they span a wide range of sizes, ecologies, and preferred environments. Yet, these spectacular birds are only the most recent branches of the extended penguin evolutionary tree. More than 50 extinct species of penguins have been discovered in the fossil record. Paleontologists have learned many secrets of ancient penguin evolution from this rich fossil record. In this series of posts, we will take a look at the march of penguins across the southern seas.

It all started when dinosaurs still roamed the Earth. Ornithologists have used DNA evidence to estimate that a group of ocean-going birds split off into two lineages sometime more than 66 million years ago. One of these branches gave rise to the tube-nosed albatrosses and petrels, and the other gave rise to penguins. These estimates would place the start of the penguin lineage during the Cretaceous Period, but at this first stage they were probably still capable of both wing-propelled diving and aerial flight, much like modern puffins. So far, paleontologists have not found any fossils to illuminate this first stage of penguin evolution.

Evolutionary tree showing the relationships of penguins to other waterbirds.

Fossil penguins appear on the stage in the Paleocene Epoch, the first phase of Earth history following the mass extinction that killed off the non-avian dinosaurs. These fossils turn up not in Antarctica as some might expect, but in New Zealand. This is appropriate enough, as New Zealand is one of the hotspots of modern penguin diversity. The oldest penguin fossils that have been reported so far date to about 61 million years in age. They belong to a species called Waimanu manneringi, (a name derived from the Maori word for “water bird” and the name of Al Mannering, discoverer of the fossil). A smaller species named Waimanu tuatahi lived around the same time. Within a few million years, more species started turning up and New Zealand became a penguin paradise. Almost completely devoid of mammals, the region was a perfect breeding ground for birds that seek to evade land predators.

Life reconstruction of the early penguin Waimanu tuatahi. Artwork by Chris Gaskin, © Geology Museum, University of Otago.

Among the species that once swam the waters surrounding New Zealand were Kairuku waitaki and Kairuku grebneffi. Kairuku translates roughly to “diver who returns with food”, whereas waitaki references the region where the fossils were found and grebneffi honors Andrew Grebneff, who contributed to the collection and preparation of the fossils. These penguins would indeed have returned with great stores of food, as they were giants. Reaching heights more than a foot taller than living Emperor Penguins, Kairuku penguins would have cut regal figures on the ancient beaches. They were not alone, but lived alongside several smaller species, such as the roughly two foot tall Duntroonornis parvus. New Zealand has continued to host many penguins species through to the present, and today it is possible to find breeding Little Blue Penguins (Eudyptula minor), Yellow-eyed Penguins (Megadyptes antipodes), and Fiordland Crested Penguins (Eudyptes pachyrhynchus) on the mainland, as well as several other species of crested penguin on the outlying islands.

From their New Zealand stronghold, penguins were about to break loose. We'll watch the start of this expansion unfold in the next post.

Composite skeleton of a giant Kairuku penguin being examined by blog author Dr. Daniel Ksepka. Photo © Dr. R. Ewan Fordyce

By request of my image providers, the standard conditions are: one time single use, with no transfer of copyright. 

Here is a video of a little blue penguin egg being candled several times throughout its 38 day incubation period.



By shining a concentrated beam of light though the egg we can get a glimpse inside to determine if the egg is fertile.

A penguin egg

We first candle the egg when it is about 10 days old.  If it is fertile, we will see a small bean sized embryo with a network of veins. As incubation continues, the developing chick gets bigger and bigger and we begin to see it moving inside the egg. Just before it is due to hatch the chick becomes so big that it takes up the entire available space inside the egg, and the light beam no longer passed through the egg. This means hatching is not far away.

This is the device we use for candling

The Aquarium takes part in a Species Survival Plans for African and little blue penguins. It's always exciting to track the growth of these chicks while they're in the eggs. Candling is an important part of this process.

Stay tuned for more about the breeding season that happened behind the scenes at the Aquarium. Want to learn more about penguins right now? Head down to the Aquarium and dive into our Penguinology program! You'll learn about the secret world of penguins and some amazing facts about these birds living at the Aquarium. Plan a visit!

For penguins an important first step to breeding success is having a proper nest. Among the penguin species you will find several different types of nest styles.

Many penguin species are considered surface nesters. This means they will collect materials and build a nest directly on the ground. The type of materials used to build the nest depends on the species and what is available. For example Adélie and gentoo penguins will collect rocks and pebbles, rockhopper penguins will use pebbles along with pieces of vegetation and even bones.

Gentoo penguins nest in a mound of pebbles | Photo: Brian Skerry, Aquarium Explorer in Residence

Rockhopper nest

Some penguin species are considered burrow nesters. These penguins will dig burrows in the substrate (often seabird guano) or under vegetation, to protect their nest from the hot sun and avian predators.

African penguin burrows on Dassen Island

Once a burrow is made the penguins will then collect pieces of vegetation to line the nest. In some penguin habitats where suitable areas have been destroyed, humans have added artificial burrows to help promote breeding and  increase penguin populations.

Magellanics in burrow

Manmade burrows on Dassen

Another unique and well-known strategy is no nest at all. Emperor and king penguins do not build nests but instead hold their single egg on their feet to keep it warm.

Emperor penguins incubate on their feet, tucked under a fold of skin Photo: Hannes Grobe/AWI via Wikimedia Commons

When we bring our breeding pairs behind the scenes we make sure they have the ability to build a nest that suits their nesting strategy. Since African and little blue penguins are burrow nesters we provide them with a burrow using a litter box top. We provide plastic aquarium plants to line their burrow nest. Building a nest it is a good sign that a mated pair is comfortable and ready to lay eggs.

To most people summer means no school, vacations, barbeques and going to the beach.  To the penguin staff it means breeding season.

Earlier this spring we brought four of our SSP-approved (meaning specifically chosen to produce a genetically healthy and diverse population) little blue penguin breeding pairs behind the scenes to start the breeding season. Just recently, seven of our SSP-approved African penguin breeding pairs joined the little blue penguins in our behind the scenes breeding area.

Little blue penguin pair behind the scenes

African penguin pair behind the scenes

Over the next few months we hoped these penguins will bond, lay eggs, and raise penguin chicks before they are returned to the exhibit. We have had very successful breeding seasons over the years and we are hoping for another successful breeding season this year.

Wishful thinking!

An “armful” of African penguin chicks from a previous breeding season; we are hopeful this year will be just as successful.

Check out these past blog post from past breeding seasons:

• Learn about pairing the breeding pairs
• Once a pair lays an egg, here's how biologists check on the eggs
• When the chicks start to hatch out of their shells, it's called pipping
• And then...penguin chicks!
• The chicks get regular check-ups
• And swim practice in the pool when their juvenile plumage grows in
• Then it's time for them to join the rest of the colony in the exhibit!   

And check back often for updates from this year’s season!

A pair of African penguins behind the scenes in their burrow

You have probably learned through school or even from watching the Disney movie The Lion King, that many organisms are interconnected to each other in an ecosystem through predator/prey relations (aka the Circle of Life).  On occasion non-native organisms are introduced into an environment, and can be disruptive to the ecosystem, as they compete with the native organisms for resources. These new neighbors are often called introduced, non-native or invasive species.

For example: lionfish are native to the Indo-Pacific and in recent years have been found in coral reef communities in the Atlantic Ocean. Since lionfish are excellent hunters and have no natural predators in the Atlantic, researches are seeing their population bloom while the populations of the native reef species are declining.

Lionfish in the Caribbean | Photo: Sarah Taylor via Bahamas Expedition blog

As Europeans ventured around the world they often brought with them species from their homeland either intentionally or by accident. Penguins breed in isolated areas or on islands with little to no land predators. The introduction of non natives like foxes, rats, feral cats and dogs added land predators that penguins previously never encountered. These new species kill the adults, chicks and eggs of many penguin species like the little blue, Galapagos and African penguin. Over the years researches have seen penguin populations decline as a result of introduced predators.

Fox and penguin | Photo credit: Philip Island – Nature Parks Australia

Stay tuned to future blogs to see some creative solutions to help combat introduced predators.