The banded penguins are penguins that belong to the genus ''Spheniscus''. There are four living species, all with similar banded plumage patterns. They are sometimes also known as "jack-ass penguins" due to their loud locator calls sounding similar to a donkey braying. Common traits include a band of black that runs around their bodies bordering their black dorsal coloring, black beaks with a small vertical white band, distinct spots on their bellies, and a small patch of unfeathered or thinly feathered skin around their eyes and underdeveloped fluff sack that can be either white or pink. All members of this genus lay eggs and raise their young in nests situated in burrows or natural depressions in the earth.

Systematics

Banded penguins belong to the genus ''Spheniscus'', which was introduced by the French zoologist

Mathurin Jacques Brisson Mathurin Jacques Brisson (; 30 April 1723 – 23 June 1806) was a French zoologist and natural philosopher. Brisson was born at Fontenay-le-Comte. The earlier part of his life was spent in the pursuit of natural history; his published wo ...

in 1760 with the

African penguin The African penguin (''Spheniscus demersus''), also known as Cape penguin or South African penguin, is a species of penguin confined to southern African waters. Like all extant penguins, it is flightless, with a streamlined body and wings stiffe ...

(''Spheniscus demersus'') as the

type species In zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the species that contains the biological type specimen( ...

. The genus name ''Spheniscus'' is derived from the

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic p ...

word σφήν (''sphẽn'') meaning "wedge" and is a reference to the animal's thin, wedge-shaped flippers.

Species

Extant

The four extant species of banded penguins (''Spheniscus'') are:

Extinct

Several extinct species are known from fossils: * '' Spheniscus anglicus'' (

Late Miocene The Late Miocene (also known as Upper Miocene) is a sub-epoch of the Miocene Epoch made up of two stages. The Tortonian and Messinian stages comprise the Late Miocene sub-epoch, which lasted from 11.63 Ma (million years ago) to 5.333 Ma. The ...

of Chile) * '' Spheniscus chilensis'' (

Early Pliocene Early may refer to: History * The beginning or oldest part of a defined historical period, as opposed to middle or late periods, e.g.: ** Early Christianity ** Early modern Europe Places in the United States * Early, Iowa * Early, Texas * Early ...

of Chile) * '' Spheniscus megaramphus'' (Late Miocene/Early Pliocene of Peru and Chile)Stucchi, 2007, p.370 * '' Spheniscus muizoni'' (Middle/Late Miocene of Cerro La Bruja, Peru)Göhlich, 2007, p.287 * '' Spheniscus urbinai'' (Late Miocene/Early Pliocene of Peru and Chile) The former ''Spheniscus predemersus'' is now placed in a

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispec ...

genus '' Inguza''.

Range

Scientists believe that the genus ''Spheniscus'' originated in

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the souther ...

, even though the oldest

fossil A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved ...

s assigned to the

taxon In biology, a taxon ( back-formation from '' taxonomy''; plural taxa) is a group of one or more populations of an organism or organisms seen by taxonomists to form a unit. Although neither is required, a taxon is usually known by a particular n ...

are from

Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean, it contains the geographic South Pole. Antarctica is the fifth-largest co ...

. The oldest ''Spheniscus'' fossils are also the oldest penguin fossils from Antarctica. African, Humboldt, and Magellanic penguins all live in

temperate climate In geography, the temperate climates of Earth occur in the middle latitudes (23.5° to 66.5° N/S of Equator), which span between the tropics and the polar regions of Earth. These zones generally have wider temperature ranges throughout ...

s. The African penguin lives in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring count ...

, the Humboldt penguin lives in coastal

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = Seal (emblem), National seal , national_motto = "Fi ...

and

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the eas ...

while the Magellanic penguin lives in coastal Chile,

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, t ...

, and the

Falkland Islands The Falkland Islands (; es, Islas Malvinas, link=no ) is an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean on the Patagonian Shelf. The principal islands are about east of South America's southern Patagonian coast and about from Cape Dubou ...

. Humboldt and Magellanic penguins are partially

sympatric In biology, two related species or populations are considered sympatric when they exist in the same geographic area and thus frequently encounter one another. An initially interbreeding population that splits into two or more distinct species s ...

, since their ranges overlap in southern

. The Galápagos penguin is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found els ...

to the

Galápagos Islands The Galápagos Islands ( es, Islas Galápagos) are an archipelago of volcanic islands in the Eastern Pacific, located around the Equator west of the mainland of South America. They form the Galápagos Province of the Republic of Ecuador, with ...

, making it the most northerly of all penguin species.

Vocalizations

Banded penguins use vocalizations for localization, socialization and to allow recognition for conspecifics or mates. Vocalizations in birds are produced by vibrations of the

syrinx In classical Greek mythology, Syrinx (Greek Σύριγξ) was a nymph and a follower of Artemis, known for her chastity. Pursued by the amorous god Pan, she ran to a river's edge and asked for assistance from the river nymphs. In answer, s ...

, located at the bottom of the trachea. These penguins are sometimes referred to as "jack-ass" penguins, since their vocalizations tend to sound similar to a donkey braying. Vocalizations in adult penguins can be classified into 4 distinct categories based on its acoustic properties and the behavioural context in which a vocalization is produced. The 4 categories of vocalizations include contact calls, agonistic calls, ecstatic display songs or mutual display songs.

Contact calls

Contact calls are vocalizations used primarily to maintain unity within a social group, to identify ones self and to maintain contact with a mate. Vocal individuality has evolved in banded penguins due to their large social group sizes. Contact calls are frequently used by banded penguins to form large flocks when

foraging Foraging is searching for wild food resources. It affects an animal's fitness because it plays an important role in an animal's ability to survive and reproduce. Foraging theory is a branch of behavioral ecology that studies the foraging behavi ...

at sea. It is easy to become separated while diving for food, therefore these penguins use contact calls to stay in contact with each other when they are out of sight. A contact call can relay an excess of information about an individual penguin, including the penguins sex, age, social status within a group and emotional state.

Agonistic calls

Agonistic calls are vocalizations used when a banded penguin is demonstrating

agonistic behaviour Agonistic behaviour is any social behaviour related to fighting. The term has broader meaning than aggressive behaviour because it includes threats, displays, retreats, placation, and conciliation. The term "agonistic behaviour" was first implemen ...

, which is characterized by aggressive interactions or fighting. Typically, banded penguins vocalize agonistic calls when defending a territory, such as their nest, against conspecifics. For nesting penguin species, such as banded penguins, the mating pair and their offspring are the only individuals allowed on their nest. Thus, any conspecific from the large colony that intrudes this territory will be a threat and an agonistic call will be produced.

Display songs

Magellanic Penguins at Otway Sound, Chile (5521312980)

There are two types of display songs vocalized by banded penguins; ecstatic display songs and mutual display songs. Ecstatic display songs are the loudest and most complex vocalization performed by banded penguins. They are composed of a sequence of distinct acoustic syllables that combine to form a complete phrase and are often displayed during their breeding season. Despite the close relatedness of banded penguin species, the ecstatic display calls of African, Humboldt and Magellanic penguins are distinctly recognizable, even to human listeners. Typically, females respond more strongly to ecstatic display calls from their mates than from other conspecifics. Furthermore, there is evidence to suggest that ecstatic display songs may convey vocal individuality through the type of syllables the song produces. This vocal individuality can convey information such as body size and weight, since heavier penguins typically emit longer and lower-pitched vocalizations. Mutual display songs are similar to ecstatic display songs in that they are also complex sequences of acoustic syllables. However, mutual display songs are performed by mates at their nesting site.

Source-filter theory

The source-filter theory is a framework used for studying the communication of mammalian animals through vocalizations. According to this theory, acoustic calls are produced by a source and then must be filtered to remove certain frequencies or leave others unchanged, which produces vocal individuality. In mammals, the source is the vibrations in the larynx and the filter is the super laryngeal vocal tract. However, birds use a different source and filter to produce vocalizations. They use a structure called the

as their source of vibrations and their trachea acts as the filter. The source-filter theory has become increasingly popular to study birds, such as various species of banded penguins. This theory can be used to investigate how acoustic variation and individuality within a set of closely related species is attributed to distinct morphological differences in their vocal organs. The equivalence of the source-filter theory in humans is the source-filter model of speech production.

References

Bibliography

* *

External links

www.pinguins.info: information about all species of penguins
{{DEFAULTSORT:Banded penguin Penguins