A penguin with the rarest coloring was found in Antarctica

Argentine scientists have identified melanism in a gentoo penguin that lives in Antarctica. This is expressed in the original color: black feathers on a snow-white belly. A similar color occurs in 1 case out of 250,000.

In Gentoo penguins, as a rule, the upper part of the wings is painted black, and the lower part is white. And the back is usually black, and the front part (except for the head) is snow—white. Due to this appearance, it seems as if they are dressed in a tuxedo.

Thanks to the traditional color, the animals hide from predators. But sometimes mutations happen.

A recent study described a gentoo penguin with melanism. This case is not the only one: in 2010, other scientists have already identified a king penguin with a similar feature. Moreover, the original color does not make the bird more vulnerable to predators and, apparently, is normally perceived by relatives. However, so far scientists have not been able to find out the sex of the bird and its breeding status, so it is impossible to say whether this anomaly complicates the search for a pair.