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They may all look the same to the human eye, but it seems penguins are different to each other after all.
New computer software has just been developed which allows researchers studying the lives of jackass penguins to tell each one apart - even when there are 20,000 to choose from.
It's not their face that gives the game away, but the distinctive markings on their chests.
A recognition system developed by a British professor studying the birds of South Africa's Robben Island - more famous as the prison home of Nelson Mandela - records and helps distinguish between the pattern of spots on their chests and stomachs.
Jackass Penguin
A camera set up on a penguin track in Robben Island records and analyses the pattern of spots of each bird that walks past.
It has the advantage over tags as it can operate without the birds having to be caught, which greatly reduces stress on penguin and scientist. "These penguins are vicious, nasty things that bite and scratch. They have very sharp beaks. I do love them but, by God, they can hurt," said Professor Peter Barham, of Bristol University, said. "It's no fun trying to get tags on them."
The numbers of the African penguin, more porperly called Spheniscus demersus but popularly known as jackass because its call sounds like the braying of a donkey, are undergoing a steep decline and researchers hope the software will help in the battle to conserve the species.
Penguins walk past the camera as they go to and from the sea to feed. The system is able to record 20 per cent of the birds in a day and after a month 98 per cent of the 20,000 penguins on the island will have been identified individually. Once the researchers know which penguin is which they are able to learn more about how the animals live.
The bird's white chests are dotted with a random pattern of small spots, each formed by three or four black feathers. The most common number of spots is 12, though there can be as few as 2 and as many as 20.
Professor Barham, Professor of Physics at Bristol, said the system would help to provide basic data such as the average lifespan of a penguin. He is confident of getting more detailed insights into how the African penguins's habits, such as how long they stay at sea, how frequently they feed and how they are affected by climate and fish stocks.
There were more than a million African penguins on the southern African coastline in the 1930s, but their numbers slumped because their eggs were taken by humans and the guano, into which they burrowed their nests, was harvested. In the past seven years they have suffered a further decline, due in all likelihood to climate change. The birds depend on sardines and anchovies in the Agulhas current, which scientists think may have been pushed out to sea beyond the penguins' reach.
The penguin recognition system, backed by Earthwatch and the Leverhulme Trust, is likely to be used for a wide variety of animal monitoring schemes, including butterflies and whales, and will be on show at this year's Royal Society Summer Science exhibition in London from June 30 to July 3.
By Patrick Sawer
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2210446/Software-to-tell-jackass-penguins-apart.html
New computer software has just been developed which allows researchers studying the lives of jackass penguins to tell each one apart - even when there are 20,000 to choose from.
It's not their face that gives the game away, but the distinctive markings on their chests.
A recognition system developed by a British professor studying the birds of South Africa's Robben Island - more famous as the prison home of Nelson Mandela - records and helps distinguish between the pattern of spots on their chests and stomachs.
Jackass Penguin
A camera set up on a penguin track in Robben Island records and analyses the pattern of spots of each bird that walks past.
It has the advantage over tags as it can operate without the birds having to be caught, which greatly reduces stress on penguin and scientist. "These penguins are vicious, nasty things that bite and scratch. They have very sharp beaks. I do love them but, by God, they can hurt," said Professor Peter Barham, of Bristol University, said. "It's no fun trying to get tags on them."
The numbers of the African penguin, more porperly called Spheniscus demersus but popularly known as jackass because its call sounds like the braying of a donkey, are undergoing a steep decline and researchers hope the software will help in the battle to conserve the species.
Penguins walk past the camera as they go to and from the sea to feed. The system is able to record 20 per cent of the birds in a day and after a month 98 per cent of the 20,000 penguins on the island will have been identified individually. Once the researchers know which penguin is which they are able to learn more about how the animals live.
The bird's white chests are dotted with a random pattern of small spots, each formed by three or four black feathers. The most common number of spots is 12, though there can be as few as 2 and as many as 20.
Professor Barham, Professor of Physics at Bristol, said the system would help to provide basic data such as the average lifespan of a penguin. He is confident of getting more detailed insights into how the African penguins's habits, such as how long they stay at sea, how frequently they feed and how they are affected by climate and fish stocks.
There were more than a million African penguins on the southern African coastline in the 1930s, but their numbers slumped because their eggs were taken by humans and the guano, into which they burrowed their nests, was harvested. In the past seven years they have suffered a further decline, due in all likelihood to climate change. The birds depend on sardines and anchovies in the Agulhas current, which scientists think may have been pushed out to sea beyond the penguins' reach.
The penguin recognition system, backed by Earthwatch and the Leverhulme Trust, is likely to be used for a wide variety of animal monitoring schemes, including butterflies and whales, and will be on show at this year's Royal Society Summer Science exhibition in London from June 30 to July 3.
By Patrick Sawer
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2210446/Software-to-tell-jackass-penguins-apart.html
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