Penguins
When Jasmine Jean said “Our wings serve as flippers that carry us across the ocean; not in the sky! Why, us penguins have so much fun time in the water, we don't even want to fly,” she highlighted a specific characteristic that defined the word penguin. Penguins are seabirds which cannot fly on the air; they live in the Southern oceans. Another definition for penguins is non-domestic small animal that has feathers, beak, and modified wings. In “ The Adelie Penguin,” Ainley (2002) states that “the word penguin, which is from the Spanish penguigo, means fat, referring to the large quantity of fat found on auks, northern hemisphere counterparts to the penguin. Also, the word pinguis, which is from the Latin, means fat.” The discovery of the first penguins were in 1520 according to the history of Magellan’s circumnavigation. Actually, the studies show that there are 18 species of penguins in the world.
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Penguins’ feathers usually are black, grey, blue in the upper parts and white underneath and The colors of the crests and the head or bill change; the feathers helps penguins to swim because the feathers gets tied and do not let the water going in. Reilly (1918) states “the fact that penguins in the Antarctic, they have a problem of losing heat, but have to lose heat by fluffing up their feathers.” the feathers of the penguins also keep them safe of their predator, some species can camouflage with the sand in the ocean. The second reason of why penguins are birds appreciably the feathers has the answer to question why. But not only is the feathers a physical characteristic of birds in penguins, penguins does not have teeth but they have beak which use as the other birds use it for eating, feeding their babies and other activities as any other birds do. The diet is eating fish or squid because of their beak and
Today we will be taking about the Duck Billed Platypus, we will be seeing that makes them different. The first thing we will start out with is their appearance. The Platypus has brown waterproof fur and a flat tail like a beaver they also have a bill and webbed feet like a duck. They next thing I will talk about a Platypus diet. A Platypus mainly eat insects and larvae, shellfish, and worms but because Platypus have no teeth they use gravel they scoop up to break up there food. Platypus are also Carnivore meaning they only eat meat or flesh. Next we will talk about the Platypus defenses. When swimming the Platypus have folds of skin covering their eyes and ears to prevent water from entering, and the nostrils close with a watertight
For this evolution project, I choose to research Penguins. The classification for this animal is as follows: K Neornithes, P Palaeognathae, C Neognathae, O Pelecaniformes, F Procellariformes, G Graviidae, S Spheniscidae. The first fossil penguin that was found, is today being held in the British Museum of Natural History. It was reportedly found by an anonymous Maori in New Zealand in 1859 and was named Palaeeudyptes Antarcticus despite the fact that the species was located far away from Antarctica. Since that discovery many more fossils were found and were dated back to the Miocene era and three others from the Pliocene era. Several fossils were dated to the Late Pliocene era and others from the Recent era. The earliest avian fossil found in the southern hemisphere is said to have existed in the Eocene age about 38-54 million years ago. There is evidence that at least three of the modern penguins (Aptenodytes, Spheniscus and Pygoscelis) went extinct within the last 4-5 million years. The remainder of the penguins are from 5-40 million years ago, dating back to the time currently recorded, when penguins evolved from other modern birds. Research suggests that the tallest of these penguins were about 6 feet tall. Penguins did originate from an ancestor that flew some 40 million years ago. The common ancestor is assumed to have been somewhat similar to a modern-day diving petrel or auk in appearance and behavior.
Life-altering decisions are often difficult to make and the long term consequences are rarely seen. For Sylvia, she had to make a difficult choice early in life. This particular choice could make her family richer but at the cost of a beautiful white heron seen by only a select few. In the end, Sylvia must decide between her personal happiness or to preserve the nature around her instead.
Feathers are complex, branched, keratinized epidermal features commonly associated with Class Aves, or birds (Bock, 2000). Cells in the epidermis called keratinocytes are the structural components of feathers; however, the protein keratin varies in its distribution and can be of different types (Prum, 2002). Many functions involved with feathers include thermal insulation, flight, cleaning of plumage, heat protection, sound production, chemical defenses, water repulsion of plumage, social communication, streamlining the body, and the sensation of touch (Bock, 2000; Prum, 2002). A wide variety of feathers have been characterized. Feathers covering the body are known as contour feathers (Bock, 2000). Contour feathers covering the wings are called remiges, while those covering the tails are called retrices (Bock, 2000). Additional types of feathers include semiplumes, down and powdered down feathers, bristles and semibristles, filoplumes, courtship plumes, and oil gland feathers (Bock, 2000). General characteristics of feathers include the presence of a calamus, which anchors the feather into the bird’s integument (Bock, 2000). Barbs, or closely spaced branches, are attached to the central shaft known as the rachis (Bock, 2000). Barbs on each side of the rachis form a vane (Bock, 2000). Proximal and distal barbules originate from barbs; proximal barbules are near the base of the feather while distal barbules are at the tip of the feather (Bock, 2000; Prum, 2002). When these barbules interlock, the structure of the vane is preserved (Bock, 2000).
In 1886, author Sarah Orne Jewett wrote a short story “A White Heron.” The premise of the story revolves around a young girl, Sylvia, who is uprooted from her home in the city and taken by her grandmother, Mrs. Tilley, to live out in the middle of a forested, country culture. Sylvia, a nine year old girl, is quiet and shy but goes about business of caring for the family cow where life was so different from the “crowded, manufacturing town”(p.1598) she came from. For the first time in her short life Sylvia understood what it truly felt like to be alive. It is important to understand Sylvia’s character to truly understand the significance of the tree and Sylvia climbing to the top. Personal growth and maturity is an expectation of living but getting the opportunity to experience it in the country, on a farm, is paramount to the changes Sylvia experiences.
In this excerpt from “A White Heron,” Sarah Orne Jewett tells of a young girl, Sylvia, climbing a tree as high as she can and staring out over the world from on top. Through her use of birdlike imagery, a varying narrative pace, and unique point of view, Jewett presents Sylvia as a young heroine conquering a small piece of the world.
In Sarah Orne Jewett’s A White Heron, Jewett uses the main character Sylvia’s innocent, and considerably naive, point of view to defend the intangible power of beauty against the young bird hunter, who symbolizes the abuse of power through the destruction of the beauty in nature.
These penguins lived after the Castastrophic event “Cretaceuous” that demolished the dinosaurs and many other species. Based on the DNA analyses and avaiable evidence of modern birds, we think the modern bird- lineages, including penguins, some how managed to survive through the Cretaceuous. Also it’s not shocking these fossils were found in New Zeland. The South Pacific and Southern oceans were free of predatory mammals, had abundant food, and had space for Penguins to breed. But the Southern Pacific is not the only area where Penguins inhabit. Many of modern penguins “Aptrenodytes” are located in the Antarctic. Recenelty it was discovered that there was a over looked feature on the surface of the fossil penguins flipper bone. These grooves were easily missed because the look was similar to tendons and muscles in the same area. It was discovered that these grooves were blood vessels that make up a counter current heat exchanger called “humeral arterial plexus” which allows penguins to limit the heat loss through the flippers. Also it helped Penguins maintain their core body temperature in cold water allowing them to survive long journeys in the cold waters. Although Penguins have luckily been able develop these traits to survive the dramatic shifts in climate, the world population can not mistake their success as resilience towards global warming.
In Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds he uses the unreal intelligence of the birds to have the humans in the film be treated like animals. Having nature fight back for its place in the food chain. This all starts with the birds attacking Melanie in the boat in the beginning of the movie. In the scene the camera is in a high angle when the bird attacks, then the camera cuts to a close up of the drop of blood falling from her head. The way that the shot is framed with a close up of the drop of blood on her hand helps foreshadow the doom that is getting ready to come upon her and the rest of the town. This only being the first occurrence they find it not necessary to investigate any more, but is not until later during the school house scene that the
Throughout the novel, The Awakening, Kate Chopin uses images of birds to symbolize Edna Pontellier’s quest to be free from society’s oppressions. Through analyzing the symbolization and foreshadowing behind the images, the rise and fall of Edna’s path to liberation creates a more powerful message about what freedom really means.
Throughout the novel The Awakening, author Kate Chopin uses the symbol of a bird in order to depict Edna’s desire for freedom and independence. In the selected passage, the symbolization of the caged bird, as well as the foreshadowing of the bird’s downfall, represents Edna’s struggle for freedom against society’s expectations and prejudices. This passage also uses flashbacks through Edna’s memory and imagination in order to encourage her journey toward individuality. Chopin uses figurative language, narrative structure, and foreshadowing in order to highlight the symbolism of the bird and to emphasize Edna’s desire for freedom from the oppression of society.
In Dashiell Hammet’s The Maltese Falcon, the "black bird" serves as a crucial link connecting Sam Spade and Brigid O’ Shaughnessy. The black bird functions as the structural bond of Spade and Brigid’s relationship because it represents their greed and desire for wealth. Hammet points out that the Brigid’s greed for the bird causes her to utilize detective Spade as a tool: "Help me, Mr. Spade. Help me because I need help so badly, and because if you don’t where will I find anyone who can, no matter how willing?" (Hammet 35). This quotation illustrates Brigid’s submissiveness and dependency on Mr. Spade to help her. But later she becomes the dominant figure when she utilizes her monetary wealth to her advantage: “She opened handbag with nervous fingers and put two hundred-dollar bills on Spade’s desk” (Hammett 9). Spade admits his greed when he says, he only “believed [Brigid’s] two hundred dollars” (Hammett 33) and not her story. The narrator illustrates how Spade views money as an adequate payment for his time. Spade and Brigid represent both the real black bird and the fake black bird because of their faulty façade, which cover up their true personalities.
Imagine someone looking to their right, and being met with the sight of a beautiful meadow, flowers swaying from the soft breeze of the clear blue sky, the sun shining brightly in the distance. Said someone widens their eyes, and concentrates hard on their surroundings, to the point where it feels like they’re one with nature. Now suddenly, the scene changes, as the person is now, this time around, turning to their left, and seeing a dark, gloomy, night sky, dead plants and birds littered across the dirty path ahead. Would they feel any different? Similar to this figurative situation, the short story “The Birds”, by Daphne du Maurier perfectly captures how the use of imagery affects human emotions. Her descriptive language regarding the weather,
Most scientists agree that there are seventeen species of penguins, with a select few recognizing eighteen instead. (del Hoyo, 1992). See Chart A The largest penguin is the Emperor Penguin, standing four feet tall and one hundred pounds. The smallest is the aptly named Litt... ...
Peregrine falcons are found in every single part of the world except Antarctica. They were