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Search by author or title:
Early records of stones (gastroliths) in stomachs of Antarctic penguins.
Citation
Shaughnessy, P. D. (2025). Early records of stones (gastroliths) in stomachs of Antarctic penguins.
Marine Ornithology 53(2),
279-280
http://doi.org/10.5038/2074-1235.53.2.1651
Received 07 March 2025, accepted 20 March 2025
Date Published: 2025/10/15
Date Online: 2025/09/21
Key words: Adelie Penguin, Pygoscelis adeliae, Emperor Penguin, Aptenodytes forsteri, pack ice, Shackleton’s Trans-Antarctic Expedition 1914–1917
Abstract
During 1915/16, A. H. Ninnis, on board S/Y Aurora of Shackleton's Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition of 1914-1917, collected penguins and seals to augment food supplies while the ship drifted in pack ice. Ninnis found stones (gastroliths) in 86 of 166 Adelie Penguin Pygoscelis adeliae stomachs (52%); numbers varied from 0 to 38 and averaged 2.1 per bird. He also examined eight Emperor Penguin Aptenodytes forsteri stomachs. Two birds had about a dozen stones each, three had some, and three had none. The function of stones in penguins' stomachs remains unknown, but Ninnis did not consider them essential for digestion.
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