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The genus ''Eudyptula'' ("good little diver") contains two species of penguin. It is found in southern Australia, Tasmania, New Zealand and the Chatham Islands. ''Eudyptula minor'' is commonly known as the little penguin, little blue penguin, or fairy penguin. In the language of the Māori people of New Zealand, little blue penguins are known as ''kororaa''. Some scientists consider a white-flippered version of the little blue penguin to be a separate species, but some would consider it a sub-species; others think the characteristic falls within the bounds of normal local variation. Analysis of mtDNA suggests that there are indeed two species involved: a western one which evolved in Australia and comparatively recently colonized New Zealand's South Island, and a purely New Zealand one. The white-flippered penguin could be classified as one of up to four subspecies of the New Zealand species. More data is required, however, to resolve the taxonomy (Banks ''et al.'', 2002). ==Classification== Order Sphenisciformes * Family Spheniscidae * * Genus ''Eudyptula'' * * * Little blue penguin (or fairy penguin), ''Eudyptula minor'' * * * * Northern little penguin, ''Eudyptula minor iredalei'' * * * White-flippered penguin, ''Eudyptula albosignata'' ==References== * Banks, Jonathan C.; Mitchell, Anthony D.; Waas, Joseph R. & Paterson, Adrian M. (2002): An unexpected pattern of molecular divergence within the blue penguin (''Eudyptula minor'') complex. ''Notornis'' 49(1): 29–38. (PDF full text ) 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Eudyptula」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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