NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Adelie Penguin
Pygoscelis adeliae (Hombron & Jacquinot, 1841)
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.
Adélie penguin (Pygoscelis adeliae), Hope Bay, Trinity Peninsula, on the northernmost tip of the Antarctic Peninsula. Image taken from a zodiac.
Godot13 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Image sourceProvider-generated thumbnail requested at 800 pixels; no local editing Local WebP display rendition; resized without cropping.
Open encyclopedia reference
The Adélie penguin (Pygoscelis adeliae) is a species of penguin common along the entire coast of the Antarctic continent. It is the most widespread penguin species in the Antarctic, and, along with the emperor penguin, is the most southerly distributed of all penguins. It is named after Adélie Land, in turn, named for Adèle Dumont d'Urville, who was married to French explorer Jules Dumont d'Urville, who first discovered this penguin in 1840. Adélie penguins obtain their food by both predation and foraging, with a diet of mainly krill and fish.
Wikipedia contributors, Adélie penguin; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T03:48:34.181799+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Pygoscelis adeliae (Hombron & Jacquinot, 1841)
- Name authority
- (Hombron & Jacquinot, 1841)
- Common name
- Adelie Penguin
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Aves
- Order
- Sphenisciformes
- Family
- Spheniscidae
- Genus
- Pygoscelis
- 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
- genusPygoscelis Wagler, 1832
- speciesPygoscelis adeliae (Hombron & Jacquinot, 1841)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Pygoscelis. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Gentoo PenguinPygoscelis papua (J. R. Forster, 1781) | SpheniscidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Chinstrap PenguinPygoscelis antarcticus (J. R. Forster, 1781) | 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 |
|---|---|
| Catarrhactes adeliae Hombron & Jacquinot, 1841 Hombron & Jacquinot, 1841 | 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=174445 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:4QPKQ. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.