Found an extinct penguin species

In studying a rare penguin species, New Zealand scientists unknowingly discovered another species that disappeared about 500 years ago.

The object that scientists at Otago University (New Zealand), the Canterbury and University of Adelaide museum study is yellow-eyed penguins - species that are in danger of extinction. They find some penguins of the penguins that are quite large in a mass of Maori's remains. DNA test results show that genes from bone fragments are completely different from modern yellow eye penguins.

'It can be said that those bones belong to an extinct penguin some hundred years ago. We call the new penguin Waitaha , "said Philip Seddon, lead researcher.

Yellow-eyed penguins.Photo: AP.

Polynesians arrived in New Zealand from before or after 1250 and pushed many of the islands' animals to extinction through hunting. Philip said the date of the bones that he and his colleagues found in the Māori pile shows a time between the disappearance of the penguin Waitaha and the appearance of penguins. yellow eyes.

That space prompted the research team to speculate that the Waitaha bird's disappearance allowed the yellow-eyed penguin to flourish on the main islands of New Zealand about 500 years ago.

It is possible that territorial competition between the two species prevented yellow-eyed penguins from moving north. Thus, Waitaha penguin is a typical example of a native bird that cannot adapt to human appearance.

Yellow-eyed penguins are now considered rare species in the world. Scientists estimate that their numbers are only about 7,000 individuals in New Zealand.