🐧African Penguin
The African penguin, also known as Cape penguin or South African penguin, is a species of penguin confined to southern African waters. It is the only penguin found in the Old World. Like all penguins, it is flightless, with a streamlined body and wings stiffened and flattened into flippers for a marine habitat. Adults weigh an average of 2.2–3.5 kg (4.9–7.7 lb) and are 60–70 cm (24–28 in) tall. The species has distinctive pink patches of skin above the eyes and a black facial mask. The body's upper parts are black and sharply delineated from the white underparts, which are spotted and marked with a black band.
Text: Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
IUCN Red List assessment, 2024.
- Body mass
- 3.13 kg
- Body length
- 0.7 m
- Shoulder height
- not recorded
- Top speed
- not recorded
- Bite force
- not recorded
- Maximum lifespan
- 27 years
Everything we know about the African Penguin
Typical adult figures. Where a value is an estimate rather than a measurement, it says so.
Body mass3.13 kgrecord 3.1 kg · SeaLifeBaseAVONETOther figures ↓Hide ↑
Record: largest individual on record
Source: AVONET · v1.1 (Tobias et al. 2022) · CC BY 4.0
Figures vary
- 3.13 kgAnAgeAnAge build 15, 2023-07-03 (HAGR)data quality: acceptable
Body length0.7 mmaximum recorded, total lengthSeaLifeBaseDetails ↓Hide ↑
Source: SeaLifeBase · v25.04 · CC BY-NC 4.0
Tail length0.03 mAVONETDetails ↓Hide ↑
Source: AVONET · v1.1 (Tobias et al. 2022) · CC BY 4.0
Wing length0.1 mAVONETDetails ↓Hide ↑
Source: AVONET · v1.1 (Tobias et al. 2022) · CC BY 4.0
Beak length0.06 mAVONETDetails ↓Hide ↑
Source: AVONET · v1.1 (Tobias et al. 2022) · CC BY 4.0
Tarsus length0.03 mAVONETDetails ↓Hide ↑
Source: AVONET · v1.1 (Tobias et al. 2022) · CC BY 4.0
Maximum lifespan27 yearsAnAgeDetails ↓Hide ↑
data quality: acceptable
Source: AnAge · AnAge build 15, 2023-07-03 (HAGR) · CC BY 3.0
Trophic levelCarnivoreAVONETDetails ↓Hide ↑
Source: AVONET · v1.1 (Tobias et al. 2022) · CC BY 4.0
HabitatMarineAVONETDetails ↓Hide ↑
Source: AVONET · v1.1 (Tobias et al. 2022) · CC BY 4.0
LifestyleAquaticAVONETDetails ↓Hide ↑
Source: AVONET · v1.1 (Tobias et al. 2022) · CC BY 4.0
Volume l3.1 LaverageDetails ↓Hide ↑
Body mass at ~1.0 kg/L, the density of vertebrate tissue.
average = a mean across sexes or species in a group.
Not recorded for African Penguin yet: shoulder height, top speed, bite force.
Family tree
- kingdomAnimalia
- ›phylumChordata
- ›classAves
- ›orderSphenisciformes
- ›familySpheniscidae
- ›genusSpheniscus
- ›speciesSpheniscus demersus
- classBirds · Aves
- orderPenguins · Sphenisciformes
- familySpheniscidae
- genusSpheniscus
All 12 branches ↓Fewer branches ↑
- kingdomMetazoa
- phylumChordata
- subphylumCraniata
- subphylumVertebrata
- superclassGnathostomata
- superclassSarcopterygii
- superclassTetrapoda
- orderSauria
- classBirds · Aves
- orderPenguins · Sphenisciformes
- familySpheniscidae
- genusSpheniscus
More about the African Penguin
Animals caught on camera
Real footage of the animals on this site — hunting, fighting, and getting on with it.
Compare the African Penguin
Pick a tool — the African Penguin is already selected.
Compare every stat with any other animal.
Stand them on the same floor and see who's bigger.
How speed, brain and bite scale with body size. This animal isn't in the sample yet.
See where it sits in the tree of life.