The different breeding strategies of penguins: a review

• Main Authors: Ancel, André, Beaulieu, Michaël, Gilbert, Caroline
• Other Authors: Département Ecologie, Physiologie et Ethologie (DEPE-IPHC), Institut Pluridisciplinaire Hubert Curien (IPHC), Université de Strasbourg (UNISTRA)-Institut National de Physique Nucléaire et de Physique des Particules du CNRS (IN2P3)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université de Strasbourg (UNISTRA)-Institut National de Physique Nucléaire et de Physique des Particules du CNRS (IN2P3)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Biology I, Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg, Mécanismes adaptatifs : des organismes aux communautés, Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2013
• Subjects: Southern hemisphere; breeding range; mate fidelity; egg formation; reproduction; vulnerability; envir; geo; Antarctic; The Antarctic; Antarc*
• Online Access: https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00789518/file/Ancel_CptesRendusBiol_2013.pdf; https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00789518

International audience The 18 penguin species are exclusively and widely distributed in the Southern hemisphere, from the Equator to the Antarctic continent, and are thus submitted to various ecological constraints in their reproductive strategy. This results in a high variability in all aspects of the breeding biology of the different species. Although penguins appear primarily adapted for a marine existence, they remain dependent on land for breeding, rearing young and moulting. Here we describe and compare the breeding cycle of all the penguin species highlighting the characteristics of each species in terms of breeding range, population status, threats induce by environmental changes, duration of the different phases of the breeding cycle, mate fidelity, body mass, body height, egg mass and duration of egg formation. We also focus on the breeding cycle of the genus Aptenodytes since it largely differs from the breeding cycle of most of the other penguin species.