All-Black Penguin Discovered

The above melanistic penguin was discovered at Fortuna Bay on the subantarctic island of South Georgia.

Melanism is merely the dark pigmentation of skin, fur--or in this case, feathers. The unique trait derives from increased melanin in the body. Genes may play a role, but so might other factors. While melanism is common in many different animal species, the trait is extremely rare in penguins. All-black penguins are so rare there is practically no research on the subject--biologists guess that perhaps one in every quarter million of penguins shows evidence of at least partial melanism, whereas the penguin above appears to be almost entirely melanistic.

The penguin did not appear to exhibit different behavior than that of his fellow penguins, and he seemed to mix well with them.

Original article here.