16 Aug 2017

The penguin which never was

From Afternoons, 1:23 pm on 16 August 2017

Another trans-tasman identity shock has emerged after some careful scientific research.

University of Otago led researchers have found out that an extinct Tasmanian penguin never actually existed.

It's looking a like another case of dual citizenship mix up with a New Zealand breed.

New science has debunked old science by showing the bones from the so-called Australian Hunter Island penguin were actually from three different living penguin species, including two from New Zealand.

Tess Cole talks to Jesse about uncovering the identity mix up.