At nearly four feet tall, the Emperor penguin is Antarctica's largest sea bird—and thanks to films like "March of the Penguins" and "Happy Feet," it's also one of the continent's most iconic. If global temperatures continue ...
Ecology
Jun 20, 2012
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Same-sex behavior is a nearly universal phenomenon in the animal kingdom, common across species, from worms to frogs to birds, concludes a new review of existing research.
Other
Jun 16, 2009
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New research has revealed how the Emperor Penguin is able to dive to depths of over 500m and stay under water for up to 27 minutes – deeper and longer than any of its fellow avian species.
Plants & Animals
Sep 1, 2013
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A trio of researchers—one with the Indian government's Ministry of Earth Sciences, another with the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay and the third with the National Institute of Advanced Studies, also in India—has ...
Several dozen Humboldt penguins sun themselves along the coast of an islet in central Chile where the majestic birds coming here to nest once numbered in the thousands.
Plants & Animals
Apr 28, 2013
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A pair of researchers, one with Kochi University, the other Katsurahama Aquarium, both in Japan, has refined the estimate of the amount of pressure required by an Adélie penguin to shoot its feces a necessary distance. Hiroyuki ...
What waddled on land but swam supremely in subtropical seas more than 60 million years ago, after the dinosaurs were wiped out on sea and land?
Archaeology
Dec 9, 2019
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Climate has influenced the distribution patterns of Adélie penguins across Antarctica for millions of years.
Plants & Animals
Jun 29, 2016
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(Phys.org)—A trio of researchers, Cassondra Williams, of the University of California, Julie Hagelin, of the University of Alaska and Gerald Kooyman with the Scripps Institute of Oceanography, has found that contrary to ...
To survive temperatures below -50 C and gale-force winds above 180 km/h during the Antarctic winter, Emperor penguins form tightly packed huddles and, as has recently been discovered – the penguins actually coordinate ...
Plants & Animals
Jun 1, 2011
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Aptenodytes Eudyptes Eudyptula Megadyptes Pygoscelis Spheniscus For prehistoric genera, see Systematics
Penguins (order Sphenisciformes, family Spheniscidae) are a group of aquatic, flightless birds living almost exclusively in the southern hemisphere, especially in Antarctica, where they are most well-known for living. Highly adapted for life in the water, penguins have countershaded dark and white plumage, and their wings have become flippers. Most penguins feed on krill, fish, squid, and other forms of sealife caught while swimming underwater. They spend about half of their life on land and half in the oceans.
Although all penguin species are native to the southern hemisphere, they are not found only in cold climates, such as Antarctica. In fact, only a few species of penguin live so far south. Several species are found in the temperate zone, and one species, the Galápagos Penguin, lives near the equator.
The largest living species is the Emperor Penguin (Aptenodytes forsteri): adults average about 1.1 m (3 ft 7 in) tall and weigh 35 kg (75 lb) or more. The smallest penguin species is the Little Blue Penguin (also known as the Fairy Penguin), which stands around 40 cm tall (16 in) and weighs 1 kg (2.2 lb). Among extant penguins, larger penguins inhabit colder regions, while smaller penguins are generally found in temperate or even tropical climates (see also Bergmann's Rule). Some prehistoric species attained enormous sizes, becoming as tall or as heavy as an adult human (see below for more). These were not restricted to Antarctic regions; on the contrary, subantarctic regions harboured high diversity, and at least one giant penguin occurred in a region not quite 2,000 km south of the equator 35 mya, in a climate decidedly warmer than today.
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