• Please be sure to read the rules and adhere to them. Some banned members have complained that they are not spammers. But they spammed us. Some even tried to redirect our members to other forums. Duh. Be smart. Read the rules and adhere to them and we will all get along just fine. Cheers. :beer: Link to the rules: https://www.forumsforums.com/threads/forum-rules-info.2974/

It was Extinct.... now its not!

Deadly Sushi

The One, The Only, Sushi
SUPER Site Supporter
AP/New Zealand Science Media Centre

The New Zealand yellow-eyed penguin, which succeeded an older species killed off by humans and which now faces extinction itself.


WELLINGTON, New Zealand — Researchers studying a rare and endangered species of penguin have uncovered a previously unknown species that disappeared about 500 years ago. The penquin was quoted as saying "Leave me the **** alone!".
The research suggests that the first humans in New Zealand hunted the newly found Waitaha penguin to extinction by 1500, about 250 years after their arrival on the islands.


Polynesian settlers came to New Zealand around 1250 and are known to have hunted species such as the large, flightless moa bird to extinction.
Seddon said dating techniques used on bones pulled from old Maori trash pits revealed a gap in time between the disappearance of the Waitaha and the arrival of the yellow-eyed penguin.
The gap indicates the extinction of the older bird created the opportunity for the newer to colonize New Zealand's main islands around 500 years ago, said Sanne Boessenkool, an Otago University doctoral student who led the team of researchers, including some from Australia's Adelaide University and New Zealand's Canterbury Museum.
Competition between the two penguin species may have previously prevented the yellow-eyed penguin from expanding north, the researchers noted.

The yellow-eyed penguin is considered one of the world's rarest. An estimated population of 7,000 in New Zealand is the focus of an extensive conservation effort.
 
Top