Penguin Anatomy Classification Name Penguins In Popular Culture

Penguins like to stay and move within large groups. Most penguins live off krill, fish, squidThis article is about the sea animal. For other uses of "squid", see Squid (disambiguation). Myopsina Oegopsina The squid is a marine mollusk of the class Cephalopoda, subclass Coleoidea, order Teuthida of which there are two major suborders, Myopsina and, and other forms of sealife that they catch while swimming underwater. They spend half of their life time on land and half in the oceans.

The largest species is the Emperor PenguinThe Emperor Penguin Aptenodytes forsteri is the largest of all penguins; adults average about 1. 1 meters tall and weigh 30 or more kilograms. Emperor Penguins eat crustaceans (such as krills), squid, and small fish. They live for around 20 years— some re: adults average about 1.1 meter tall and mass 30 or more kilograms. The smallest penguin species is the Little Blue Penguin (also known as the Fairy Penguin), which is typically 35 to 40 cm tall and 1 kilogram. Generally larger penguins retain heat better and thus inhabit colder regions, while smaller penguins are found in temperate or even tropical climates.

Penguins emerged in the EoceneThe Eocene epoch (55-37 mya) is a major division of the geologic timescale and the second epoch of the Tertiary period in the Cenozoic era. The Eocene spans the time from the end of the Paleocene epoch to the beginning of the Oligocene epoch. The start of era 40 million years ago. Birds like Palaeeudyptes from the Eocene, Pachydyptes from the MioceneThe Miocene Epoch is a period of time that extends from about 5 million to 24 million years before the present. As with other older geologic periods, the rock beds that define the start and end are well identified, but the exact dates of the start and end and the now extinct Great AukAt 75 centimetres, the flightless Great Auk Pinguinus impennis was the largest of the auks. It was hunted for food and down for mattresses from at least the 8th century. It is classified as the only species in the genus Pinguinus . The Great Auk was onces resembled modern penguins. The links between other bird orders and penguins are still unknown, and though a distant relationship between penguins and petrelThe petrels are seabirds in the bird order Procellariiformes. They occur in three families within that group, which also includes the Albatross family, Diomedeidae. Having a fossil record that extends back at least 60 million years, it is among the olders is assumed, it has not been proved. Most fossil penguins known are large, but not larger than the modern Emperor Penguin. All lived in the southern hemisphere.

1 Anatomy

Penguins are superbly adapted to an aquatic life. Their wings have become flippers, useless for flight in the air. In the water, however, penguins are astonishingly agile. Within the smooth plumage a layer of air is preserved, ensuring buoyancy. The air layer also helps insulate the bird in the icy waters of the Antarctic. The plumage of penguins in tropical and temperate zones is much thinner.

On land, penguins use their tails and wings to maintain balance.

All penguins have a white underside and a dark (mostly black) upperside. This is for camouflage. A predator looking up from below (such as an orca or a leopard seal ) has difficulty distinguishing between a white penguin belly and the reflective water surface.

Diving penguins reach 6 to 12 km/h, though there are reports of velocities of 27 km/h (which are probably realistic in the case of startled flight). The small penguins do not usually dive deep; they catch their prey near the surface in dives that normally last only one or two minutes. Larger can dive deep in case of need. The Emperor Penguin has been recorded reaching a depth of 267 metres and staying submerged for 18 minutes.

On land, penguins are clumsy. They either waddle on their feet or slide on their belly across the snow. They slide on their stomachs, called "tobogganing", to conserve energy and move relatively fast at the same time.

Penguins have an excellent sense of hearing. Their eyes are adapted for underwater vision, and are their primary means of locating prey and avoiding predators; in air, conversely, they are nearsighted. Their sense of smell has not been researched so far.

2 Classification

200px Chinstrap Penguin hunting for krill - Photo

ORDER SPHENISCIFORMES

Family Spheniscidae
- King Penguin, Aptenodytes patagonicus
- Emperor Penguin, Aptenodytes forsteri
- Gentoo Penguin, Pygoscelis papua
- Adelie Penguin, Pygoscelis adeliae
- Chinstrap Penguin, Pygoscelis antarctica
- Rockhopper Penguin, Eudyptes chrysocome
- Fiordland Penguin, Eudyptes pachyrhynchus
- Snares Penguin, Eudyptes robustus
- Royal Penguin, Eudyptes schlegeli
- Erect-crested Penguin, Eudyptes sclateri
- Macaroni Penguin, Eudyptes chrysolophus
- Yellow-eyed Penguin, Megadyptes antipodes
- Little Penguin (or Fairy Penguin), Eudyptula minor
- African Penguin, Spheniscus demersus
- Magellanic Penguin, Spheniscus magellanicus
- Humboldt Penguin, Spheniscus humboldti
- Galapagos Penguin, Spheniscus mendiculus

3 Name

200px Adelie penguin in Antarctica

Penguin is thought by some to derive from the Welsh words pen (head) and gwyn (white), applied to the Great Auk, which had a conspicuous white patch between the bill and the eye (although its head was black), or from an island off Newfoundland known as "White Head" due to a large white rock. According to another theory, the original name was pen-wing, with reference to the rudimentary wings of both Great Auks and penguins. A third theory is that penguin comes from the Latin pinguis (fat).

4 Penguins in popular culture

Penguins are popular around the world owing to their harmless nature, their upright stance for standing and walking, which humans find charming or comical, and their striking black and white plumage that is often humorously likened to a tuxedo suit.

4.1 Computing

Sega's 1982 video-game Pengo stars a penguin.
A penguin is a main character in a number of 1980s Konami games, and shows up as a mascot in others.
Penguins are featured in the computer game Pingus, similar to the classic computer game Lemmings.
The Linux mascot Tux is a penguin, and is featured in several computer games, such as Tux Racer.
The website http://www.thepenguinconspiracy.com/ is one of several sites that talk about "evil penguins."

4.2 Politics

The penguin is an unofficial symbol of the United States Libertarian Party.
Penguin Vic was a character created to promote tourism in Victoria, Australia

4.3 Comics

Opus the penguin was a main character in Berke Breathed's comic strips Bloom County, Outland, and Opus.
Pokey the Penguin is a popular web comic.
Chilly Willy is another web comic, based on the (penguin) character from the Commodore 64 game Chilly Willy , a clone of Pengo.
Frobisher is a penguin (actually, a shape-shifting alien who liked the penguin shape) who appeared in the Doctor Who Monthly comic strips (Sixth Doctor Who) of the 1980s. Despite not being strictly canon, it is considered an important part of the Doctor Who mythos.
The DC comics of Batman contained a villain called The Penguin, who has appeared in movies, television live actions programs as well as cartoons.

4.4 Film

The animated film features a ruthless criminal penguin named Feathers McGraw .
The protagonist of the dialogue-less Swiss animation Pingu, that has been running since 1982, is a penguin.
One of the main villains of the movie Batman Returns was The Penguin who, in the film, was a part human and part penguin mutant who was raised by penguins.

4.5 Audio CDs

Frobisher, the talking alien penguin from the DWM comics, has appeared in several of the licensed Doctor Who audio plays produced by Big Finish, including The Holy Terror and The Maltese Penguin .
Sack Trick's Second album, Penguins on the Moon, Is the tale of four heroic penguins, who journeyed to the moon in search of a more habitable climate.

5 External link

Birds *

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