Editing Little penguin (section)

==Taxonomy==
[[File:White-flippered Penguin -standing on rocks.jpg|thumb|A white-flippered penguin in the [[South Island]].]]
The little penguin was first described by German [[naturalist]] [[Johann Reinhold Forster]] in 1781. Several [[subspecies]] are known, but a precise classification of these is still a matter of dispute. The [[holotype]]s of the subspecies ''E. m. variabilis''<ref>{{cite web | title = Eudyptula minor variabilis; holotype | work = Collections Online | publisher = Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa | url = http://collections.tepapa.govt.nz/objectdetails.aspx?oid=416404 | access-date = 17 July 2010}}</ref> and ''Eudyptula minor chathamensis''<ref>{{cite web | title = Eudyptula minor chathamensis; holotype | work = Collections Online | publisher = Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa | url = http://collections.tepapa.govt.nz/objectdetails.aspx?oid=421788 | access-date = 17 July 2010}}</ref> are in the collection of the [[Te Papa|Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa]]. The [[white-flippered penguin]] (''E. m. albosignata'' or ''E. m. minor [[Polymorphism (biology)|morpha]] albosignata'') is currently considered by most [[taxonomists]] to be a colour [[Morph (zoology)|morph]] or subspecies of ''Eudyptula minor.'' In 2008, [[Hadoram Shirihai|Shirihai]] treated the little penguin and white-flippered penguin as [[allospecies]].<ref>Shirihai, Hadoram (2008). The Complete Guide to Antarctic Wildlife, 2d Edition. Princeton University Press.</ref> However, as of 2012, the [[IUCN]] and [[BirdLife International]] consider the white-flippered penguin to be a subspecies or morph of the little penguin.

Little penguins from New Zealand and Australia were once considered to be the same species, called ''Eudyptula minor''. Analysis of [[mtDNA]] in 2002 revealed two [[clade]]s in ''[[Eudyptula]]'': one containing little penguins of New Zealand's [[North Island]], [[Cook Strait]] and [[Chatham Island]], as well as the white-flippered penguin, and a second containing little penguins of [[Australia]] and the [[Otago]] region of New Zealand.<ref name=Banks>Banks, Jonathan C.; Mitchell, Anthony D.; Waas, Joseph R. & Paterson, Adrian M. (2002): An unexpected pattern of molecular divergence within the blue penguin (''Eudyptula minor'') complex. ''Notornis'' '''49'''(1): 29–38. [http://notornis.osnz.org.nz/system/files/Notornis_49_1_29.pdf PDF fulltext]</ref> Preliminary analysis of braying calls and [[cluster analysis]] of [[morphometrics]] partially supported these results.<ref name=Banks/> A 2016 study described the Australian little penguin as a new and separate species, ''[[Eudyptula novaehollandiae]]''. ''E. minor'' is endemic to New Zealand, while ''E. novaehollandiae'' is found in Australia and Otago.<ref name=":0" /> A 2019 study supported the recognition of ''E. minor'' and ''E. novaehollandiae'' as separate species.<ref name=":1" />
 
The IUCN assessment for ''Eudyptula minor'' uses ''Eudyptula minor'' and ''Eudyptula novaehollandiae'' interchangeably throughout the report to specify location, but considers them as two genetically distinct clades within the same species.<ref name="iucn status 13 November 2021" />