NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Northern Rockhopper Penguin
Eudyptes moseleyi Mathews & Iredale, 1921
Source-backed taxonomic record
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Northern Rockhopper Penguin at Berlin Zoological Garden, Germany.
Arjan Haverkamp · CC BY 2.0 · Image sourceProvider-generated thumbnail requested at 800 pixels; no local editing Local WebP display rendition; resized without cropping.
Open encyclopedia reference
The northern rockhopper penguin (Eudyptes moseleyi), also known as Moseley's rockhopper penguin, Moseley's penguin, or Tristan penguin, is a penguin species native to the southern Indian and Atlantic Oceans. It was formerly considered conspecific with the eastern and western rockhopper penguins.
A study published in 2009 showed that the population of the northern rockhopper had declined by 90% since the 1950s. For this reason, the northern rockhopper penguin is classified as endangered.
Wikipedia contributors, Northern rockhopper penguin; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T11:51:01.909753+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Eudyptes moseleyi Mathews & Iredale, 1921
- Name authority
- Mathews & Iredale, 1921
- Common name
- Northern Rockhopper Penguin
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Aves
- Order
- Sphenisciformes
- Family
- Spheniscidae
- Genus
- Eudyptes
- Extinction status
- Recorded extant
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- megaclassTetrapoda
- classAves
- orderSphenisciformes
- familySpheniscidae Bonaparte, 1831
- genusEudyptes Vieillot, 1816
- speciesEudyptes moseleyi Mathews & Iredale, 1921
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Eudyptes. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Snares PenguinEudyptes robustus Oliver, 1953 | SpheniscidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Western Rockhopper PenguinEudyptes chrysocome (J. R. Forster, 1781) | SpheniscidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Eastern Rockhopper PenguinEudyptes filholi F. W. Hutton, 1879 | SpheniscidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Eudyptes chrysocome moseleyi Mathews & Iredale, 1921 Mathews & Iredale, 1921 | synonym |
| Eudyptes serresianus moseleyi Mathews & Iredale, 1921 Mathews & Iredale, 1921 | synonym |
Documented distribution
Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=824057 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:3C39Z. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.