How Many Different Kinds
of Penguins are There?

How Many Different Kinds of Penguins are There?

There are 17 recognized species of penguins living today, being some subspecies still on debate.
 
They can be grouped in 6 different sets.
 
Great Penguins. (2 living species)

This group includes the Emperor penguin and the King penguin. As their name implies, they are the largest penguins, reaching up to 1.2 mt.
 
Brush-tailed Penguins.(3 living species)
 
This group includes the Adelie Penguin, the Chinstrap Penguin and the Gentoo Penguin.
 
Little Penguins. ( 1 living species)
 
The little penguins group is made up by the little blue penguin and the northern little penguin. The northern little penguin or white flippered penguin as also known, is one of the subspecies in debate.
 
Banded Penguins. (4 living species)
 
In this classification you can find the Magellanic Penguin, the Humboldt Penguin, the Galapagos Penguin, and the African Penguin. 

Yellow Eyed Penguins. (1 living species)
 
In this group only lives the Yellow Eyed Penguin and it is also grouped the Waitaha Penguin which is already extinct.
 
Crested Penguins (6 living species)
 
This large group is conformed by the Fiordland Penguin, the Snares Penguin, the Erect-crested Penguin, the Rockhopper Penguin (4 species), the Royal Penguin, and finally the Macaroni Penguin.