Guards of the Fairy Penguin

In the summer of 2009, a number of brutal attacks in Sydney, Australia left nine victims dead.  According to BBC, “the mutilated bodies...were found in a national park near Sydney harbour.”  Autopsies performed on the bodies reveal that the murderers were most likely foxes, although dogs remain a definite suspect.

A picture of the red fox outside of the house in Breckenridge, Colorado, that our friends the Beckleys rented one summer.  It's an awesome place to stay, I tell you what!  Photo Credit: Julie Neher

There is more to this story than has been revealed thus far.  The nine victims were not humans; instead, they were korora, or little blue penguins, also often called fairy penguins. You would be excused for thinking that the victims were, in fact, humans, especially once you learned the whole story.

In an interview with BBC, Sally Barnes of the New South Wales Parks and Wildlife Service detailed what the group has been doing to protect the penguins from the dogs and foxes.  As well as raising public awareness, the NPWS has been baiting and trapping the predators, and “As a last resort, we’ve also had shooters out.” 

In this case, shooters means snipers.  That’s right; the Parks and Wildlife Service deployed two professional sharpshooters in order to ensure the safety of these penguins.  Armed with night-vision goggles, rifles, and orders to shoot to kill, these may be the most extreme methods used to protect penguins ever employed. 

The penguins are being further protected by vigilantes from the Manly Environment Centre, vowing that they will do “whatever it takes” to protect the penguins, and planning on assisting the snipers in keeping a sharp eye on the birds 24/7. 

Why is this colony such a big deal?  The kororaa is labeled as “Least Concern” by the IUCN.  Well that may be true for the total population of korora, but this colony is falling by the wayside.  As you can see in the map, the area where the colony is located is quite busy, and not ideal penguin habitat.  However, these penguins cannot be relocated; like many birds, they always return to where they themselves were raised to come ashore and raise their own chicks.  The people of Sydney also take pride in their colony of korora’s, as it is the sole population located in New South Wales.  The people at the Manly Environment Centre report that their efforts are, by and large, successful, and the korora’s numbers are on the rise.

Sydney on Dwellable

Convergent Evolution: Hesperornis and Penguins

Everyone who is reading this blog, and most people who aren't, have heard of penguins, and know, more or less, what they look like.  However, most people have no idea what a Hesperornis is, which is entirely forgivable.  What is especially interesting about Hesperornis is that it was really the "original penguin," in the loosest sense of the terms.

If not for the captions below each picture, these two animals would most likely be quite difficult to tell apart.  One major difference between the two birds is in the mouth: Hesperornis had teeth, a feature which no modern birds possesses.  Another major, but non-skeletal difference, between the two birds is that Hesperornis died out 78 MYA, during the Late Cretaceous.  Its remains have been found in the United States (Kansas), Canada, and Russia.

The similarities between Hesperornis and modern day penguins is called "Convergent Evolution," a fascinating topic which we will undoubtedly touch upon numerous times.  According to Science Daily, convergent evolution is, "In evolutionary biology, convergent evolution is the process whereby organisms not closely related (not monophyletic), independently evolve similar traits as a result of having to adapt to similar environments or ecological niches."  In English, when two animals, not necessarily closely related at all, evolve similar features that serve the same purpose.

An (excellent) drawing of the skull of Thylacosmilus

 Another example which we have already talked about is the long, saber-like canines that evolved in both the saber-toothed cats, such as Smilodon, and the South American marsupial carnivore Thylacosmilus.

 This post is part of the "Convergent Evolution" series.  For the rest of the posts in this series, click HERE.

What Is It? The Weekly Challenge #1 Answer

Well, it's that time of the week again!  We only had a few guesses this week, and no one got it exactly right, but there were some close guesses!  The two closest were Kristie C., who guessed an Adélie Penguin, and Masaki K. who guessed Cormorant.  Well, the correct answer to last weeks challenge is Waimanu.  Waimanu is the scientific name of the oldest known fossil penguin.  Two species are known, and both of them were found on the South Island of New Zealand.  One of the species, Waimanu manneringi, lived during the Paleocene, around 61.6 MYA; that means that the oldest known penguin was swimming the oceans only a few million years after the death of the dinosaurs!  Although Waimanu manneringi is the oldest KNOWN fossil penguin, it by no means is the oldest penguin.  In fact, it is quite likely that, were scientists to uncover a fossil that shows when penguins split off from the other orders of birds, we would not even recognize it as a penguin.  Waimanu had undoubtedly already adapted to a fully non-aerial lifestyle, and almost certainly behaved much like modern penguins do when it comes to breeding on land, near the ocean.


Works Cited:

Waimanu, the first penguin. (2010, January 30). Retrieved July 11, 2012, from https://fossilpenguins.wordpress.com/2010/01/30/waimanu-the-first-penguin/