AnimalvsAnimal
Pingüino de El Cabo (Spheniscus demersus), Playa de Boulders, Simon's Town, Sudáfrica, 2018 07 23, DD 11🐧

Photo: Diego Delso · CC BY-SA 4.0

SpeciesSphenisciformesSpheniscidae
Birds

🐧African Penguin

Spheniscus demersus (Linnaeus, 1758)

Le Manchot du Cap (Spheniscus demersus) est une espèce de manchots qui vit près des côtes du sud de l'Afrique.

Text: Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Videos
19
Photos
2
Measurements
11
vs you
≈ 1/20th of your weight
Also called
black-footed penguin, Cape penguin, jackass penguin, South African penguin
Conservation status
CRCritically endangered

IUCN Red List assessment, 2024.

Population trendDecreasing
Key measurements
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
All measurements ↓
Facts and figures

Everything we know about the African Penguin

Typical adult figures. Where a value is an estimate rather than a measurement, it says so.

Body mass
3.13 kgrecord 3.1 kg · SeaLifeBase
AVONET
Other figures ↓

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 length
0.7 mmaximum recorded, total length
SeaLifeBase
Details ↓

Source: SeaLifeBase · v25.04 · CC BY-NC 4.0

Tail length
0.03 m
AVONET
Details ↓

Source: AVONET · v1.1 (Tobias et al. 2022) · CC BY 4.0

Wing length
0.1 m
AVONET
Details ↓

Source: AVONET · v1.1 (Tobias et al. 2022) · CC BY 4.0

Beak length
0.06 m
AVONET
Details ↓

Source: AVONET · v1.1 (Tobias et al. 2022) · CC BY 4.0

Tarsus length
0.03 m
AVONET
Details ↓

Source: AVONET · v1.1 (Tobias et al. 2022) · CC BY 4.0

Maximum lifespan
27 years
AnAge
Details ↓

data quality: acceptable

Source: AnAge · AnAge build 15, 2023-07-03 (HAGR) · CC BY 3.0

Trophic level
Carnivore
AVONET
Details ↓

Source: AVONET · v1.1 (Tobias et al. 2022) · CC BY 4.0

Habitat
Marine
AVONET
Details ↓

Source: AVONET · v1.1 (Tobias et al. 2022) · CC BY 4.0

Lifestyle
Aquatic
AVONET
Details ↓

Source: AVONET · v1.1 (Tobias et al. 2022) · CC BY 4.0

Volume l
3.1 Laverage
Details ↓

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.

Where it sits

Family tree

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. ›phylumChordata
  3. ›classAves
  4. ›orderSphenisciformes
  5. ›familySpheniscidae
  6. ›genusSpheniscus
  7. ›speciesSpheniscus demersus
Full lineage
  1. classBirds · Aves
  2. orderPenguins · Sphenisciformes
  3. familySpheniscidae
  4. genusSpheniscus
All 12 branches ↓
  1. kingdomMetazoa
  2. phylumChordata
  3. subphylumCraniata
  4. subphylumVertebrata
  5. superclassGnathostomata
  6. superclassSarcopterygii
  7. superclassTetrapoda
  8. orderSauria
  9. classBirds · Aves
  10. orderPenguins · Sphenisciformes
  11. familySpheniscidae
  12. genusSpheniscus
More

More about the African Penguin

In other languages
brillepingvin (da), pingüí del Cap (ca), tučňák brýlový (cs), Brillenpinguin (de), Spheniscus demersus (es), afrikanpingviini (fi) … and 25 more languages
More photos
Pingüino de El Cabo (Spheniscus demersus), Playa de Boulders, Simon's Town, Sudáfrica, 2018 07 23, DD 11African penguin (Spheniscus demersus) FWS 14209
All 2 photos in the gallery →

Les animaux pris sur le vif

De vraies images des animaux de ce site — à la chasse, au combat, ou vaquant simplement à leurs occupations.

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