Showing posts tagged penguin
Why Do Penguins Fly Not? by Traci Watson Long, long ago, O Best Beloved, the ancestor of the penguins could soar through the air. So why did the penguin give up flight? Rudyard Kipling never wrote a Just So story with an answer, but now scientists have one: The penguin doesn’t fly because it would rather swim. A new study of murres, penguinlike seabirds that retain the ability to take wing, shows just how costly and inefficient it is to be both a diver and a flyer. The new findings back the long-held hypothesis that penguins gave up the heavens more than 70 million years ago to become kings of the waves. “This study contributes a lot by putting hard numbers on the energy costs of moving through both the aerial and aquatic realms,” writes Daniel Ksepka of North Carolina State University in Raleigh, who studies penguin evolution and was not involved with the research, in an e-mail… (read more: Science News/AAAS)  (photo: Kyle H. Elliott; (inset) Samuel Blanc) View high resolution

Why Do Penguins Fly Not?

by Traci Watson

Long, long ago, O Best Beloved, the ancestor of the penguins could soar through the air. So why did the penguin give up flight? Rudyard Kipling never wrote a Just So story with an answer, but now scientists have one: The penguin doesn’t fly because it would rather swim.

A new study of murres, penguinlike seabirds that retain the ability to take wing, shows just how costly and inefficient it is to be both a diver and a flyer. The new findings back the long-held hypothesis that penguins gave up the heavens more than 70 million years ago to become kings of the waves.

“This study contributes a lot by putting hard numbers on the energy costs of moving through both the aerial and aquatic realms,” writes Daniel Ksepka of North Carolina State University in Raleigh, who studies penguin evolution and was not involved with the research, in an e-mail…

(read more: Science News/AAAS) 

(photo: Kyle H. Elliott; (inset) Samuel Blanc)

These king penguin chicks were pictured in early spring of this year in the colony at St. Andrew Bay, South Georgia. King penguins colonize in huge groups, and this colony is more than 100,000 penguins strong. Park regulations mandate that only 100 people may be ashore at any one time and must stay 10 meters away from the colony. The park asks that visitors “Take particular care not to disturb, or shift, moulting king penguins.” Photo: Darrell Gulin/Getty (via: TakePart.org) View high resolution

These king penguin chicks were pictured in early spring of this year in the colony at St. Andrew Bay, South Georgia. King penguins colonize in huge groups, and this colony is more than 100,000 penguins strong. Park regulations mandate that only 100 people may be ashore at any one time and must stay 10 meters away from the colony.

The park asks that visitors “Take particular care not to disturb, or shift, moulting king penguins.”

Photo: Darrell Gulin/Getty

(via: TakePart.org)

oculi-ds: “Gentoo Love Song” - (photo by Tony Beck) Gentoo Penguins (Pygoscelis papua)

oculi-ds: “Gentoo Love Song” - (photo by Tony Beck)

Gentoo Penguins (Pygoscelis papua)

(Reblogged from ohsomedayy)
Emperor Penguin (Aptenodytes forsteri) by BDHL staff The largest penguin species, the Emperor Penguin, has an adaptation in its bones (which is special amongst bird species) that allows it to survive deep dives for food. Do you know what that adaptation is? The bones of the Emperor Penguin are solid, rather than hollow, which eliminates the risk of mechanical barotrauma that would otherwise occur during deep dives with pressures up to 40 times that found on the surface. Most bird species have at least some bones that are hollow, or pneumatized, allowing for flight. Some penguin species, like the Emperor Penguin, and the Ostrich, do not have these hollow bones. Notice, these are the bird species that do not fly. (via: Biodiversity Heritage Library) image from The American natural history; a foundation of useful knowledge of the higher animals of North America, 1914, by William T. Hornaday   View high resolution

Emperor Penguin (Aptenodytes forsteri)

by BDHL staff

The largest penguin species, the Emperor Penguin, has an adaptation in its bones (which is special amongst bird species) that allows it to survive deep dives for food. Do you know what that adaptation is?

The bones of the Emperor Penguin are solid, rather than hollow, which eliminates the risk of mechanical barotrauma that would otherwise occur during deep dives with pressures up to 40 times that found on the surface. Most bird species have at least some bones that are hollow, or pneumatized, allowing for flight.

Some penguin species, like the Emperor Penguin, and the Ostrich, do not have these hollow bones. Notice, these are the bird species that do not fly.

(via: Biodiversity Heritage Library)

image from The American natural history; a foundation of useful knowledge of the higher animals of North America, 1914, by William T. Hornaday

 

Flightless Birds: All 18 Penguin Species

Many penguin species threatened and endangered…

US Pushes for Antarctic Marine Protections by Andrea Thompson U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry called for the establishment of increased protections in two parts of the Southern Ocean around Antarctica at an event held last night (March 18) by The Pew Charitable Trusts at the National Geographic Society in Washington, D.C. Kerry appeared with New Zealand’s ambassador to the United States, Michael Moore, to make the case for the two countries’ push for a marine protected area (or MPA) in Antarctica’s Ross Sea. If created, it would be the largest MPA in the world. “The Ross Sea … is a natural laboratory. And we disrespect it at our peril, as we do the rest of the ocean,” Kerry said in his remarks at the event, which also screened the award-winning documentary “The Last Ocean,” which highlights the Ross Sea… (read more: OurAmazingPlanet)             (photo: Adelie Penguins in the Ross Sea, by John P. Weller) View high resolution

US Pushes for Antarctic Marine Protections

by Andrea Thompson

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry called for the establishment of increased protections in two parts of the Southern Ocean around Antarctica at an event held last night (March 18) by The Pew Charitable Trusts at the National Geographic Society in Washington, D.C.

Kerry appeared with New Zealand’s ambassador to the United States, Michael Moore, to make the case for the two countries’ push for a marine protected area (or MPA) in Antarctica’s Ross Sea. If created, it would be the largest MPA in the world.

“The Ross Sea … is a natural laboratory. And we disrespect it at our peril, as we do the rest of the ocean,” Kerry said in his remarks at the event, which also screened the award-winning documentary “The Last Ocean,” which highlights the Ross Sea…

(read more: OurAmazingPlanet)            

(photo: Adelie Penguins in the Ross Sea, by John P. Weller)

Infrared Images Reveal Frigid, Purple Penguins

By Nadia Drake

Emperor Penguins with blue bellies, green beaks, and red eyes huddle over a patch of black snow — a multicolored Antarctic landscape, as seen through the eye of an infrared thermal imager.

The psychedelic colors, which correspond to different temperatures, reveal that much of a penguin’s outer surface is cooler than the surrounding air — except, of course, for their unfeathered eyes, beaks, and feet.

“Most of the body that is covered by thick plumage was found to be, on average, 4 to 6 degrees C colder than surrounding air temperature,” said biophysical ecologist Dominic McCafferty of the University of Glasgow. Only the birds’ eyes measured above freezing. “At first, we were very surprised by this discovery,” he said.

The observations, reported today in Biology Letters, suggest that extreme radiative cooling draws heat from a penguin’s feathery surface. (On a clear, cold night, you can see the effects of radiative cooling in the frost that forms on windows, roofs, and grasses.) But because they’re insulated beneath layers of feathers and fat, the birds can still maintain a body temperature of about 39 degrees C (102 degrees F), even when shuffling through the -40 C Antarctic night…

(read more: Wired Science)               

(images: Université de Strasbourg and Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Strasbourg, France)

Monogamous Animals:  Emperor Penguins Emperor penguins (Aptenodytes forsteri) are famous for their familial devotion, with males incubating a single egg for more than 2 months while their mates travel to the sea for food. But their commitment typically lasts for only one breeding season. Emperor penguins usually latch onto a mate quickly after returning to the colony, and if the previous year’s partner isn’t around, he or she will find someone else. (photo: Glen Grant, NSF)                        (via: Science NOW) View high resolution
Monogamous Animals:  Emperor Penguins

Emperor penguins (Aptenodytes forsteri) are famous for their familial devotion, with males incubating a single egg for more than 2 months while their mates travel to the sea for food. But their commitment typically lasts for only one breeding season. Emperor penguins usually latch onto a mate quickly after returning to the colony, and if the previous year’s partner isn’t around, he or she will find someone else.

(photo: Glen Grant, NSF)                        (via: Science NOW)

A penguin nursery, filmed for the first time after BBC cameramen hid their cameras inside fake birds

Film-makers followed three penguin communities and shot scenes which have never before been captured on camera.

by Damien Gayle

Spy cameras disguised as penguins were used to capture these incredible pictures of the flightless birds’ private lives.

Documentary film-makers hid their cameras inside 50 animatronic replicas of the marine birds to get closer to them than has ever been possible before.

The were captured for a forthcoming documentary charting a year in the lives of three penguin communities, revealing the qualities that make them among nature’s most devoted parents…

(Read more: Daily Mail UK)     (photos: Frederique Olivier)
Penguin Evolution Penguins are unusual birds in that they cannot fly and are instead proficient swimmers and divers. Evolutionary biologists have long wondered how penguins evolved their peculiar traits and how some of their kind conquered the bitterly cold Antarctic. Recent fossil discoveries have enabled researchers to piece together the penguins’ evolutionary past, revealing that some of the traits that fortify them against the cold evolved under warm conditions. Although penguins have triumphed over 60 million years of climate change, current warming conditions may outpace their ability to adapt… CLICK HERE TO SEE IMAGE IN LARGER FORMAT (Art by Stephanie Abramowicz, Maps by XNR Productions) (source: 10.1038/scientificamerican1112-56) (via: Nova Taxa) View high resolution

Penguin Evolution

Penguins are unusual birds in that they cannot fly and are instead proficient swimmers and divers. Evolutionary biologists have long wondered how penguins evolved their peculiar traits and how some of their kind conquered the bitterly cold Antarctic. Recent fossil discoveries have enabled researchers to piece together the penguins’ evolutionary past, revealing that some of the traits that fortify them against the cold evolved under warm conditions. Although penguins have triumphed over 60 million years of climate change, current warming conditions may outpace their ability to adapt…

CLICK HERE TO SEE IMAGE IN LARGER FORMAT

(Art by Stephanie Abramowicz, Maps by XNR Productions)

(source: 10.1038/scientificamerican1112-56)

(via: Nova Taxa)
Sassy ass penguin.

Sassy ass penguin.

(Source: 9gag)

(Reblogged from leonsioananda)
neaq: Adélie penguins in Antarctica: Back in the mid-1970′s Torgersen Island was home to roughly 9,000 breeding pairs of Adélie penguins (Pygoscelis adeliae)… Since then, climate change has decreased the breeding pairs by 81 percent to 2,500. An Aquarium educator is on the ground in Antarctica and she sent back video of these penguins. View high resolution

neaq:

Adélie penguins in Antarctica: Back in the mid-1970′s Torgersen Island was home to roughly 9,000 breeding pairs of Adélie penguins (Pygoscelis adeliae)… Since then, climate change has decreased the breeding pairs by 81 percent to 2,500.

An Aquarium educator is on the ground in Antarctica and she sent back video of these penguins.

(Reblogged from ody-ssea)
Emperor Penguins Need Sea Ice for Foraging by Becky Oskin Motion detectors mounted on emperor penguins have revealed that sea ice plays a critical role in the birds’ long food odyssey. Emperor penguins rely on sea ice for breeding and feeding. Shifting patterns of sea ice due to changing climate in the Antarctic could alter the penguin’s behavior and ecology, said study author Shinichi Watanabe, an animal ecologist and professor at Fukuyama University in Hiroshima, Japan. The Antarctic sea ice hit a record maximum this year, but the sea ice distribution around the continent is changing, while the penguins nest in the same place every year. ”If penguins don’t stay on the ice during foraging trips, they may not be able to sustain such long trips,” Watanabe told OurAmazingPlanet… (read more: Live Science)                          (photo: Univ. of Tokyo) View high resolution

Emperor Penguins Need Sea Ice for Foraging

by Becky Oskin

Motion detectors mounted on emperor penguins have revealed that sea ice plays a critical role in the birds’ long food odyssey.

Emperor penguins rely on sea ice for breeding and feeding. Shifting patterns of sea ice due to changing climate in the Antarctic could alter the penguin’s behavior and ecology, said study author Shinichi Watanabe, an animal ecologist and professor at Fukuyama University in Hiroshima, Japan.

The Antarctic sea ice hit a record maximum this year, but the sea ice distribution around the continent is changing, while the penguins nest in the same place every year. ”If penguins don’t stay on the ice during foraging trips, they may not be able to sustain such long trips,” Watanabe told OurAmazingPlanet…

(read more: Live Science)                          (photo: Univ. of Tokyo)

2 New Emperor Penguin Colonies Spied in Antarctica

by LiveScience Staff

Researchers have finally found a long-sought colony of emperor penguins in eastern Antarctica, but they say it’s been split in two due to a glacier break. Moreover, a tally of the 6,000 chicks among these two populations suggests there are more emperor penguin parents in this part of the frozen continent than previously thought.

French scientists spied the waddling, flightless birds on winter sea ice near the Mertz Glacier while on their way to Dumont d’Urville Station. (The documentary “March of the Penguins” was filmed near this research base.)

One population has about 2,000 baby penguins and the second, about 4,000 of the chicks. Since emperor penguin parents can only have one chick per year, the researchers say there are likely more than 8,500 breeding pairs in the region, about three times more than previously estimated…

(read more: Live Science)    

(photos: Robin Cristofari/CNRS/Institut polaire français IPEV)

Adelie Penguins adrift on an iceberg during a heavy snowstorm in Antarctica. (photo: Joshua Holko)                           (via: National Geo) View high resolution

Adelie Penguins adrift on an iceberg during a heavy snowstorm in Antarctica.

(photo: Joshua Holko)                           (via: National Geo)