scholarly journals Identification of Circovirus Genome in a Chinstrap Penguin (Pygoscelis antarcticus) and Adélie Penguin (Pygoscelis adeliae) on the Antarctic Peninsula

Viruses ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (8) ◽  
pp. 858 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hila Levy ◽  
Steven R. Fiddaman ◽  
Anni Djurhuus ◽  
Caitlin E. Black ◽  
Simona Kraberger ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Antarctic Peninsula ◽  
Chinstrap Penguin ◽  
East Antarctica ◽  
Western Antarctic Peninsula ◽  
Adélie Penguin ◽  
Pygoscelis Adeliae ◽  
Adelie Penguin ◽  
Pygoscelis Antarcticus ◽  
Genome Wide ◽  
Adélie Penguins

Circoviruses infect a variety of animal species and have small (~1.8–2.2 kb) circular single-stranded DNA genomes. Recently a penguin circovirus (PenCV) was identified associated with an Adélie Penguin (Pygoscelis adeliae) with feather disorder and in the cloacal swabs of three asymptomatic Adélie Penguins at Cape Crozier, Antarctica. A total of 75 cloacal swab samples obtained from adults and chicks of three species of penguin (genus: Pygoscelis) from seven Antarctic breeding colonies (South Shetland Islands and Western Antarctic Peninsula) in the 2015−2016 breeding season were screened for PenCV. We identified new variants of PenCV in one Adélie Penguin and one Chinstrap Penguin (Pygoscelis antarcticus) from Port Charcot, Booth Island, Western Antarctic Peninsula, a site home to all three species of Pygoscelid penguins. These two PenCV genomes (length of 1986 nucleotides) share > 99% genome-wide nucleotide identity with each other and share ~87% genome-wide nucleotide identity with the PenCV sequences described from Adélie Penguins at Cape Crozier ~4400 km away in East Antarctica. We did not find any evidence of recombination among PenCV sequences. This is the first report of PenCV in Chinstrap Penguins and the first detection outside of Ross Island, East Antarctica. Given the limited knowledge on Antarctic animal viral diversity, future samples from Antarctic wildlife should be screened for these and other viruses to determine the prevalence and potential impact of viral infections.

Number and distribution of Adélie penguin (Pygoscelis adeliae) breeding sites in the Robinson Group of islands, Mac.Robertson Land coast, east Antarctica

Polar Record ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 43 (3) ◽  
pp. 225-229 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew Low ◽  
Lisa Meyer ◽  
Colin Southwell
Keyword(s):  
East Antarctica ◽  
Adélie Penguin ◽  
Pygoscelis Adeliae ◽  
Adelie Penguin ◽  
Breeding Sites ◽  
Comprehensive Survey ◽  
Spatial Coordinates ◽  
Adélie Penguins

ABSTRACTIn November 2005, the first comprehensive survey for Adélie penguin (Pygoscelis adeliae) breeding sites in the Robinson Group of islands, situated 25 to 55 km east of Australia's Mawson station (67.602°S, 62.879°E) was conducted. Breeding Adélie penguins were found on 30 of the 149 islands, with the number of nests on each island ranging from fewer than 10 to several thousand. With the exception of those islands in the southeast, nesting Adélie penguins were found throughout the Robinson Group. In this paper, the spatial coordinates and presence/absence of breeding penguins for all 149 islands are reported so that researchers may interpret the results in relation to possible future survey work. All locations reported in this paper are in decimal degrees.

A 9000-year record of Adélie penguin occupation and diet in the Windmill Islands, East Antarctica

2005 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 57-66 ◽  
Author(s):  
STEVEN D. EMSLIE ◽  
ERIC J. WOEHLER
Keyword(s):  
Population Cycles ◽  
East Antarctica ◽  
Adélie Penguin ◽  
Pygoscelis Adeliae ◽  
Pleuragramma Antarcticum ◽  
Fish Prey ◽  
Adelie Penguin ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
Nest Site Fidelity ◽  
Windmill Islands

We investigated 17 abandoned Adélie penguin (Pygoscelis adeliae) colonies in the Windmill Islands, East Antarctica, in summer 2002/03. Forty radiocarbon dates on penguin bones and eggshells from 13 of these sites indicate a near continuous occupation by breeding penguins in this region for over 9000 years. These dates refine the recent geological record in this region and indicate that deglaciation of the northern islands occurred much earlier than previously suggested. Dietary remains from these sites include at least 23 taxa of cephalopods and teleost fish. Quantification of these remains indicates significant fluctuations in the relative abundance of two of the more common major prey taxa. The Antarctic silverfish (Pleuragramma antarcticum Boulenger) was the most common teleost prey during all time periods represented by the ages of the sites, but preservational factors may explain a gradual decrease in the remains of this species in increasingly older sites. The most common cephalopod in the sediments was the squid, Psychroteuthis glacialis Thiele, which occurred in low numbers in most sites except one (Site 75). An unusually high number of squid beaks preserved in Site 75, dating to approximately 5700–6100 cal. yr BP, does not correlate with a decrease in fish prey at that time. The high number of abandoned penguin colonies (> 200) in the Windmill Islands may be due to population cycles in the past in association with low nest-site fidelity and movement by breeding penguins to new sites within this region.

Breeding behaviour of colour-aberrant Adélie penguins (Pygoscelis adeliae) at Cape Crozier, Ross Island, Antarctica

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-9
Author(s):  
Parker M. Levinson ◽  
Annie E. Schmidt ◽  
Virginia Morandini ◽  
Megan Elrod ◽  
Dennis Jongsomjit ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mate Selection ◽  
Bird Species ◽  
Low Frequency ◽  
Adélie Penguin ◽  
Pygoscelis Adeliae ◽  
Frequency Condition ◽  
Adelie Penguin ◽  
Individual Fitness ◽  
Adélie Penguins

Abstract Plumage colour variation occurs widely among bird species and is often associated with individual fitness. More specifically, colouration can affect thermoregulatory ability, mate selection and conspicuousness during foraging. Colour aberrations can be caused by genetic mutations, dietary imbalances, environmental conditions or disease and are rare. Plumage variations have previously been noted in Adélie penguins, although without any follow-up to measure implications for behaviour or fitness. To assess how this low-frequency condition affects breeding in Adélie penguins, we monitored the breeding of several colour-aberrant Adélie penguins during the 2019–2020 nesting season at the large Cape Crozier, Ross Island colony (> 300,000 pairs). In total, we found 12 individuals with unusual plumage for a frequency of 1:50,000 breeding penguins. There were seven dark brown Adélie penguins, three progressive greying Adélie penguins, one dilute Adélie penguin and one brown Adélie penguin, of which five were female, three male and four of unknown sex. Six colour aberrants initiated breeding with a normal-coloured mate, and five raised at least one chick to crèche. The likelihood of breeding and breeding success of colour aberrants were similar to those of normal-coloured Adélie penguins, suggesting that colour aberrations do not negatively affect breeding.

scholarly journals Ancient Adélie penguin colony revealed by snowmelt at Cape Irizar, Ross Sea, Antarctica

Geology ◽  
2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steven D. Emslie
Keyword(s):  
Ross Sea ◽  
Bone Collagen ◽  
Adélie Penguin ◽  
Pygoscelis Adeliae ◽  
Adelie Penguin ◽  
Terra Nova Bay ◽  
Penguin Colony ◽  
Marine Productivity ◽  
First Time ◽  
Adélie Penguins

The Ross Sea (Antarctica) is one of the most productive marine ecosystems in the Southern Ocean and supports nearly one million breeding pairs of Adélie penguins (Pygoscelis adeliae) annually. There also is a well-preserved record of abandoned penguin colonies that date from before the Last Glacial Maximum (>45,000 14C yr B.P.) through the Holocene. Cape Irizar is a rocky cape located just south of the Drygalski Ice Tongue on the Scott Coast. In January 2016, several abandoned Adélie penguin sites and abundant surface remains of penguin bones, feathers, and carcasses that appeared to be fresh were being exposed by melting snow and were sampled for radiocarbon analysis. The results indicate the “fresh” remains are actually ancient and that three periods of occupation by Adélie penguins are represented beginning ca. 5000 calibrated calendar (cal.) yr B.P., with the last occupation ending by ca. 800 cal. yr B.P. The presence of fresh-appearing remains on the surface that are actually ancient in age suggests that only recently has snowmelt exposed previously frozen carcasses and other remains for the first time in ~800 yr, allowing them to decay and appear fresh. Recent warming trends and historical satellite imagery (Landsat) showing decreasing snow cover on the cape since 2013 support this hypothesis. Increased δ13C values of penguin bone collagen further indicate a period of enhanced marine productivity during the penguin “optimum”, a warm period at 4000–2000 cal. yr B.P., perhaps related to an expansion of the Terra Nova Bay polynya with calving events of the Drygalski Ice Tongue.

Population genetic structure and gene flow of Adélie penguins (Pygoscelis adeliae) breeding throughout the western Antarctic Peninsula

2017 ◽  
Vol 29 (6) ◽  
pp. 499-510 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kristen B. Gorman ◽  
Sandra L. Talbot ◽  
Sarah A. Sonsthagen ◽  
George K. Sage ◽  
Meg C. Gravely ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Diversity ◽  
Gene Flow ◽  
Genetic Structure ◽  
Antarctic Peninsula ◽  
Population Genetic Structure ◽  
Population Genetic ◽  
Spatial Genetic Structure ◽  
Western Antarctic Peninsula ◽  
Pygoscelis Adeliae ◽  
Adélie Penguins

AbstractAdélie penguins (Pygoscelis adeliae) are responding to ocean–climate variability throughout the marine ecosystem of the western Antarctic Peninsula (WAP) where some breeding colonies have declined by 80%. Nuclear and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) markers were used to understand historical population genetic structure and gene flow given relatively recent and continuing reductions in sea ice habitats and changes in numbers of breeding adults at colonies throughout the WAP. Genetic diversity, spatial genetic structure, genetic signatures of fluctuations in population demography and gene flow were assessed in four regional Adélie penguin colonies. The analyses indicated little genetic structure overall based on bi-parentally inherited microsatellite markers (FST=-0.006–0.004). No significant variance was observed in overall haplotype frequency (mtDNAΦST=0.017;P=0.112). Some comparisons with Charcot Island were significant, suggestive of female-biased philopatry. Estimates of gene flow based on a two-population coalescent model were asymmetrical from the species’ regional core to its northern range. Breeding Adélie penguins of the WAP are a panmictic population and hold adequate genetic diversity and dispersal capacity to be resilient to environmental change.

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