<Tr> <Td_colspan="2"> Eudyptula minor (J.R. Forster, 1781) </Td> </Tr> <P> The little penguin (Eudyptula minor) is the smallest species of penguin . It grows to an average of 33 cm (13 in) in height and 43 cm (17 in) in length, though specific measurements vary by subspecies . It is found on the coastlines of southern Australia and New Zealand, with possible records from Chile . In Australia, they are often called fairy penguins because of their small size . In New Zealand, they are more commonly known as little blue penguins or blue penguins owing to their slate - blue plumage . They are also known by their Māori name: kororā . </P> <P> The little penguin was first described by German naturalist Johann Reinhold Forster in 1781 . Several subspecies are known, but a precise classification of these is still a matter of dispute . The holotypes of the subspecies E. m. variabilis and Eudyptula minor chathamensis are in the collection of the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa . The white - flippered penguin is sometimes considered a subspecies, sometimes a distinct species, and sometimes a morph . As the Australian and Otago (southeastern coast of South Island) little penguins may be a distinct species to which the specific name minor would apply, the white - flippered birds indeed belong to a distinct species, although not exactly as originally assumed . </P> <P> Mitochondrial and nuclear DNA evidence suggests the split between Eudyptula and Spheniscus occurred around 25 million years ago, with the ancestors of the white - flippered and little penguins diverging about 2.7 million years ago . </P>

Why are fairy penguins now called little penguins