Forget those fierce debates over the origins of pavlova and Phar Lap - University of Otago researchers have just shed new light on one of the quirkiest Aussie takeovers of them all.
These researchers have shown that a little penguin species - often known as the little blue penguin and found on the Otago coast - is actually a surprisingly recent invader from Australia.
And not content with inhabiting parts of the Otago coast, Australian little blue penguins also apparently use their own distinctive Australian accents in calling to prospective mates and on other social occasions.
Other researchers have previously shown that calls differ between Australian and New Zealand little penguins and, indeed, females prefer the calls of males of their own species, Otago zoology graduate Dr Stefanie Grosser says.
‘‘You could say the Aussies like hearing ‘feesh', while ‘fush' sounds better to Kiwi ears,'' Dr Grosser jokes.
Earlier collaborative research published last year and also undertaken by Dr Grosser, as part of her doctoral studies, showed there are two genetically distinct species of little blue penguins, one in Australia, the other in New Zealand.
That research showed the little blue penguins now found in Otago are actually from Australia.
The endemic New Zealand species is found on the West Coast and elsewhere in this country, and the Australian species, predominates only in Otago, on this side of the Tasman.
Further just-published collaborative research, also based on Dr Grosser's studies, has clarified when the penguins first arrived in Otago.
Scholars previously believed Otago's little blue penguins may have existed here for hundreds of thousands of years.
But the latest study shows the Australian species, Eudyptula novaehollandiae, arrived in Otago much more recently, no earlier than the year 1500.
‘‘Amazingly, all of the bones older than 400 years belong to the native New Zealand species,'' she said.
This apparently followed the decline of the native New Zealand little penguin, Eudyptula minor, which was ‘‘hunted by early human settlers and introduced predators''.
The research outcome gave her a ‘‘great sense of satisfaction''and she had not expected ‘‘such a clear finding''.
‘‘It's always nice to see something come together at the end,'' she said.
The latest research was funded by the Marsden Fund and Allan Wilson Centre, and was led by Prof Jon Waters, of the Otago zoology department, one of her doctoral supervisors.
The team's findings have been published today in the international biological research journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences.
