•
King penguin,
Aptenodytes patagonicus •
Aptenodytes patagonicus patagonicus •
Aptenodytes patagonicus halli •
Emperor penguin,
Aptenodytes forsteri • Ridgen's penguin,
Aptenodytes ridgeni, an extinct species known from
fossil bones of Early or Late
Pliocene age. Combined morphological and
molecular data have shown the genus
Aptenodytes to be basal to all other living penguins, that is, the genus split off from a branch which led to all other species. DNA evidence suggests this split occurred around 40 million years ago. This had been foreshadowed by an attempt to classify penguins by their behavior, which also predicted the genus' basal nature. ==Species==