Nature

Penguins

Best penguin species

The community has spoken. Discover the world ranking, compare it to yours and see how everyone else voted.

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18contenders high-voltage

144votes

4TopList

0commentsUpdated on 09/27/2026 at 12:00 AM

Emperor Penguin (Aptenodytes forsteri)1301

The worldwide ranking generated by 144 votes

18 / 18

Emperor Penguin (Aptenodytes forsteri)1301

Adélie Penguin (Pygoscelis adeliae)1293

Northern Rockhopper Penguin (Eudyptes moseleyi)1287

King Penguin (Aptenodytes patagonicus)1242

Erect-crested Penguin (Eudyptes sclateri)1236

Humboldt Penguin (Spheniscus humboldti)1230

Chinstrap Penguin (Pygoscelis antarcticus)1218

Magellanic Penguin (Spheniscus magellanicus)1209

Little Penguin (Eudyptula minor)1187

#10

Fiordland Penguin (Eudyptes pachyrhynchus)1183

#11

Gentoo Penguin (Pygoscelis papua)1180

#12

Rockhopper Penguin (Eudyptes chrysocome)1175

#13

Snares Penguin (Eudyptes robustus)1175

#14

African Penguin (Spheniscus demersus)1171

#15

Royal Penguin (Eudyptes schlegeli)1145

#16

Macaroni Penguin (Eudyptes chrysolophus)1138

#17

Galápagos Penguin (Spheniscus mendiculus)1119

#18

Yellow-eyed Penguin (Megadyptes antipodes)1111

What the community says

Discover the 18 penguin species in the world and vote for your favorite.

How this ranking is computed

Every duel won lifts a contender and every loss drops them, by an amount that depends on the opponent's strength: beating the leader is worth more than beating the last. It is an ELO, the same principle as in chess. Duels are not drawn at random — an adaptive entropy sort puts the least predictable match-ups first, which settles the ranking far faster than a full round robin. A worldwide ranking is only published past 30 completed plays. Known limit: a contender who has faced few opponents keeps an approximate score, and the bottom of the table moves more than the podium.