 This would mean that its ancestors diverged from those of the extant "Pygoscelis" most likely at an indeterminate point of time during the Oligocene.Alternatively, it might not be close to extant penguins (the Spheniscinae), but a late survivor of an extinct lineage.This is not very likely given its age — it would be the last known survivor of the non-spheniscine penguins — but as some of these still lived a few million years ago, it cannot be ruled out.