Climate change does not bode well for picky penguins

A gentoo penguin and a chinstrap penguin
Credit: Rachael Herman, Louisiana State University

ANTARCTICA – In a part of the world that is experiencing the most dramatic increase in temperature and climate change, two very similar penguin species – chinstraps and gentoos – are responding very differently.

Chinstrap penguin numbers at Antarctic Peninsula breeding colonies are decreasing while gentoo penguin numbers are increasing.

New research published this month in Marine Ecology Progress Series suggests that the ways in which these species have adapted to co-exist with one another might be to blame.