Most penguins look like they’re wearing a little cardigan.
But this “all black” bird, photographed in Antarctica, looks like it’s wearing a snazzy cookie-and-cream cardigan.
The Gentoo Penguin (Pygoscelis papua) has a condition called melanism in which too much of the dark pigment melanin has been produced, making it blacker than normal.
In humans, melanin is the natural pigment in the body that gives our hair and eyes a dark color – and protects us from the sun’s rays.
While melanism causes animals to look different from other members of the same species, it can be passed on to offspring as an evolutionary advantage.
The penguin has a condition called melanism in which too much of the dark pigment melanin has been produced, making it darker than normal
Despite its ‘unusual plumage colour’, the penguin seemed to be accepted by its colony mates
In 2010, a king penguin with melanism, described as a ‘one in a zillion mutation’, was found in South Georgia’s Fortuna Bay, but this is only the second gentoo penguin on record with the condition.
The new discovery is detailed in a new study led by Rocio Nigro at the Universidad Nacional de La Plata, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
“The penguin’s unusual coloring was identified as melanism, a genetic disorder that causes an excess of melanin pigment in feathers,” say Nigro and colleagues in their paper, published in Polar biology.
“This particular individual appeared to be in good health and was behaving normally.”
The penguin was seen in Hope Bay, north of the Antarctic Peninsula (the part that sticks out like a tail above the Antarctic mainland).
Despite his ‘unusual color of plumage’ he seemed to have been accepted by his colony mates.
However, the researchers said they could not confirm the sex or breeding status.
Gentoo penguins (or ‘flappers’) usually have wings that are black on top and white on the underside – but this particular bird has completely black wings.
Gentoo penguin wings (or ‘flappers’) are normally black on top and white on the underside (as shown in this file photo)
Gentoo penguins have white spots protruding from their eyes and a bright red-orange beak. This photo shows an adult with his two adorable chicks
Like other penguin species, the Gentoo also normally has black on its back and a huge white chest, but it is heavily speckled with black spots to give a ‘cookies and cream’ appearance.
But like other normal Gentoo penguins, it also has white spots protruding from its eyes and a bright red-orange beak.
Penguins are adept underwater swimmers at speeds of 15 to 25 miles per hour in search of food – and their classic black and white “vest” appearance helps them evade predators.
When seen by a potential predator looking up from below, a white belly blends better into the light-filled surface water.
Meanwhile, a predator looking down from above sees the penguin’s black back, which resembles the dark depths of the ocean.
However, Professor Heather Lynch, an ecologist at New York’s Stony Brook University, doesn’t think this cookie-and-cream bird is at greater risk of predation because of its genetic condition.
“While penguin coloration is a long-term evolutionary strategy that helps penguins avoid predation, I don’t think this penguin’s coloration puts it in serious danger,” said Professor Lynch, who was not involved in the study. New scientist.
“Being a penguin is risky enough.”
Because black penguins are extremely rare, very little research has been done on them.
It is estimated that about one in 250,000 penguins has the condition, although few are as completely black as the penguins found in South Georgia in 2010.
This unusually black king penguin was captured in 2010 in Fortuna Bay, a sub-Antarctic island in South Georgia, about 800 miles off the coast of the Falklands.
A gray seal washed up on the Cornish coast earlier this year (named Liquorice by Cornish Seal Sanctuary staff) is also melanistic
In some species, melanism can be beneficial and passed on to subsequent generations as it can help with survival.
For example, dark skin can provide better camouflage, making them less visible to their prey.
Mammals and other animals can also experience melanism, including a beautiful gray seal pup that recently washed up on the Cornish coast.
The beautiful female pup, named Liquorice by staff at the Cornish Seal Sanctuary, was spotted by local walkers on a nearby beach.
In 2020, photos emerged of a melanistic tiger in Odisha, India, with striking black all over its back but still with orange stripes across its belly, neck and legs.