You probably know the gentoo penguin, even if you don’t know it by name. It’s the one with the bright orange bill and the white patch across its head. For generations, scientists treated it as one single species. A new study says there are actually four, and one of them has been hiding on a remote island all this time. It’s the first new penguin species named in more than a century!More info: vcresearch.berkeley.edu | nature.comFor generations, scientists treated the gentoo penguin as one single speciesLuis Hernandez/PexelsA new study says there are actually four gentoo penguin species, and one of them has been hiding on a remote island all this timeAndres Daza/PexelsThe discovery comes from a team of researchers led by Chilean and UC Berkeley biologists, including Juliana Vianna and Rauri Bowie. They studied the DNA of 64 gentoo penguins from colonies all over the Southern Ocean, from South America to Antarctica to the islands of the Indian Ocean. Bowie said there’s probably “no species of penguin where the taxonomy has been more debated” than the gentoo. This time, the answer was clear.The southeastern gentoo is the first new penguin species named in more than a centuryAlex Bian/PexelsResearchers studied the DNA of 64 gentoo penguins from colonies all over the Southern OceanAlex Bian/PexelsThe new species is the southeastern gentoo, which lives on the Kerguelen Islands in the Indian OceanLuis Hernandez/PexelsSo who are the four? There’s the northern gentoo, living around the Falkland Islands. There’s the southern gentoo, the only one that calls Antarctica home. There’s the eastern gentoo, found on remote islands like Crozet and Macquarie. And then there’s the new one, the southeastern gentoo, which lives on the Kerguelen Islands in the Indian Ocean.The southeastern gentoo looks almost exactly like the other gentoos, so only its DNA gave it awayDawid Tkocz/PexelsIt took this long to find because it looks almost exactly like the others. The only differences are slight ones in size and the sounds it makes, so only its DNA gave it away. Its home doesn’t help either. The French call the Kerguelen Islands the Desolation Islands, and they sit nearly 2,000 miles from the closest permanently inhabited land. Not many people stop by for a close look at the penguins.Gentoos return to the same nesting spot year after year, and over time penguins on far-apart islands became their own groupsLorna Pauli/PexelsThe researchers think the gentoos’ habits explain how one penguin became four. Gentoo penguins aren’t picky eaters. They’ll go after fish, krill, squid, and cuttlefish, so they never need to travel far. They also return to the same nesting spot year after year. Over a very long time, penguins on far-apart islands slowly became their own groups, each fitting its own corner of the world. The southern gentoos, for example, are built for the cold, while the eastern gentoos seem to be better suited to long dives.The southern gentoos are thriving, but the other three species could be in trouble as the planet warmsNico Marín/PexelsBut there’s a catch. Right now, gentoos are listed as Least Concern, mostly because southern gentoos are thriving and make up about 65% of all gentoos. The other three species could be in trouble. As the planet warms, the researchers expect the islands where they live to become much less suitable by 2050, and there aren’t many other places for them to go. On Macquarie Island, the eastern gentoo has already lost around half of its breeding pairs. The researchers stress that this isn’t a prediction of extinction, but that each species should be assessed and protected separately.The official reference specimen is a male penguin collected on Kerguelen on December 31, 1897Alvaro Garcia Galluzzi/PexelsOne more detail makes this story special. The official reference specimen for the new species is a male penguin collected on Kerguelen on December 31, 1897. It has been sitting in the American Museum of Natural History ever since, waiting for someone to notice it belonged to a species that didn’t have a name yet.Now it finally does. And while the discovery reminds us how much is still waiting to be found, even among animals we think we know well, it also brings a challenge. Now that scientists know the gentoo is really four different penguins, the race is on to make sure all four are still around for the next 100 years.Now the race is on to make sure all four gentoo species are still around for the next 100 yearsAr kay/Pexels