Ecomorphology of penguins in the genus Spheniscus


SOCIETY FOR INTEGRATIVE AND COMPARATIVE BIOLOGY
2021 VIRTUAL ANNUAL MEETING (VAM)
January 3 – Febuary 28, 2021

Meeting Abstract


38-8  Sat Jan 2  Ecomorphology of penguins in the genus Spheniscus Bloom, EJ; California State University, Northridge elliott.bloom.30@my.csun.edu

The interaction between functional morphology and behavior impact the ecology of organisms. Penguins (Family Spheniscidae) effectively fly underwater using their flippers as wings, a result of the penguin wing stroke being virtually identical to that of a volant bird. Wing and beak morphology are both important determinants of foraging ecology. Wing morphology is strongly correlated with foraging ecology in flying birds and due to the similarity in wing stroke, it is likely that differences in penguin wing morphology select for different foraging strategies as they do in flying birds. Beak morphology and bite force are determinants of prey type and size that can be procured. The Humboldt Penguin (Spheniscus humboldti) and the Magellanic Penguin (S. magellanicus) breed along the coast of South America. Their breeding ranges are mostly allopatric, but they occur in sympatry on a few islands off the coast of southern Chile. Given that these two species have similar body sizes and share a primary food resource, we explored morphological differences within and between species in allopatry and sympatry to determine whether there is evidence for character displacement. I predict that variations in wing and beak morphology will allow these species to co-exist in sympatry via exploiting different resources and thus alleviating competition. Penguins were captured near their nests and measurements included three beak dimensions, bite force, body mass, wingspan, and wing area. I (1) characterized the wing and beak parameters within each of the two penguin species throughout their range and (2) determined if there is evidence for character displacement in their wing and beak morphology in the area of sympatry. Preliminary results indicate there are both inter- and intra-specific morphological differences.

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