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Extinct penguin found
last update: Jul 01, 2009 10:42 AM
According to a "Globe and Mail/The Associated Press" article: While studying a rare and endangered species of penguin in New Zealand, researchers have uncovered a previously unknown species that disappeared about 500 years ago.
This extinct penguin, the Waitaha, was hunted to extinction by 1500 by the first humans in New Zealand hunted, the study suggests.
Philip Seddon of Otago University, a co-author of the study said that the demise of the one species allowed another kind of penguin to thrive,the yellow-eyed species, which in its turn, now also faces extinction.
The different penguin was discovered when the team was testing DNA from the bones of prehistoric modern yellow-eyed penguins for genetic changes associated with human settlement when it found some bones that were older and had different DNA.
In an article, reported by the team in a paper in the biological research journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, they say that tests on the older bones “lead us to describe a new penguin species that became extinct only a few hundred years ago.”
David Penny of New Zealand's Massey University, (not involved in the research) said the waitaha was an example of another native species that was unable to adapt to a human presence. He said “In addition, it is vitally important to know how species, such as the yellow-eyed penguin, are able to respond to new opportunities. It is becoming apparent that some species can respond to things like climate change, and others cannot. The more we know, the more we can help.”
Read more:
Globe and Mail/The Associated Press, 31st March 2009
