The signature Species of the Southern Hemisphere (Antarctica) - the mascot if you will - is the penguin. There are not one and no fewer than seventeen species of penguins. Penguins are flightless birds in which several factors are contributing to the reduction of the penguin population. These contributing factors are both man-made and naturally occurring. “The origin of the word “penguin” has been the subject of debate for a long period of time. Researchers and historians’ theories range from reference to the amount of fat (penguigo in Spanish and pinguis in Latin) penguins possess to the claim that the word was derived from two Welsh words meaning ‘white head’.” (Sparks and Soper, 1987) Penguins are comical and funny birds. Blue/black on the upper half of their body and white on the lower half, they look as though they are all dressed up for a formal dinner or show but have no place to go! Penguins are flightless birds, which have adapted to living in the cooler waters of the Southern Hemisphere. They generally live on islands and remote continental regions that are free of land predators. Their inability to fly has been detrimental to their survival on land. Some species of penguins spend as much as 75% of their lives in the ocean, yet they all breed on land or sea ice attached to land. The seventeen species found today are thought to have evolved from flying birds more than forty million years ago. To date, the discovery of all penguin fossil fragments has been limited to the Southern Hemisphere. “Records show that prehistoric penguins were found within the range of present-day penguins.” (Sparks and Soper, 1987) All penguins have a very similar torpedo-shaped body form, which is conducive for swimmin... ... middle of paper ... ...e of these animals is complex and difficult. The need for protecting marine habitats for all kinds of marine life has become serious. We have the ability to cause the extinction of far too many creatures. As of December 4, 1998, a number of conservation groups gathered and formulated a report on the penguin population. They believe that 9 penguin species should have been endangered or were close to being endangered, and 2 more species close to being threatened. Previously, only 5 of the total seventeen penguin species were considered threatened. Based on the above-referenced conservation groups’ statistics, more than 50% of penguin species may be close to endangered. If we do not take an active stand on the protection of these amazing birds, we stand a chance of creating yet another “dinosaur,” available to our children only through history and science books.
After watching March of the Penguins I was browsing the internet while I was trying to figure out which direction to take the essay in, because there were too many possibilities for the topic. Soon I found myself watching Monty Python, when the perfect sketch to start this paper on comes on. A newspaper reporter comes on saying "Penguins, yes penguins what relevance do penguins have with the furtherance of medical science? Well strangely enough quite a lot" He moves into a joke about research not being accidental. Then he picks up of the penguins "Nevertheless scientists believe that these penguins, these comic flightless web-footed little b@$#ards are un-wittingly helping man to fathom the uncharted depths of the human mind." The news cast flips to the scientist who introduces himself then states "...having been working on the theory postulated by the late Dr. Kramer that the penguin in intrinsically more intelligent than the human being." From there a multitude of science spoofs lead to the confirmation of this theory of penguins being smarter, even though it is clearly pointed out that the penguin's brain is smaller than of a human being. This causes the penguins to rise up and take over the roles of humans. After careful consideration I decided to discuss this clip as there really is no better way to introduce how animals are used in film as entertainment. Whether it is a crazy Monty Python sketch or the heartwarming love story that is March of the Penguins both were created for many reasons, but the most influential was the desire to earn money. For now just keep Monty Python on the back burner it will have significance later, lets shift to dealing with the questions being posed about March of the Penguins. How did March o...
Every day many species are slowly becoming either endangered or extinct and recently an endangered bird species called piping plovers, started nesting on Revere Beach. What would seem as a miraculous discovery, many are averse to their new inhabitants on the beach. Many Revere residents are complaining because the piping plovers now occupy parts of “their” beach. But in the article “Revere Beach should welcome the piping plover” The Editorial Board believes that the presence of the piping plover could be greatly beneficial to the city of Revere and I certainly agree. What led me to select this particular article is my concern for the many endangered species in the world like the piping plover. Human hands have led many species to become endangered
Threats: Even though Emperor penguins have never been threaten there is some treats they face. One being of human activity. Two the overfishing of their food sources. Three a disease called Bursal Disease Virus (IBDV). One major threat is that of human activity creating global warming, This has threaten their breeding grounds as well as. This could then create a problem for the future of the species.
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.
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.
The total populations of some species, such as the emperor penguin, are estimated in hundreds of thousands, but those of most species of smaller penguins certainly run to several million. The largest breeding colonies are on the islands between 50 [IMAGE] south latitude and Antarctica . These immense colonies, some of which contain hundreds of thousands of individuals, represent a large potential food resource, but the economic importance of penguins is negligible.
Stokstad, Erik. “Tiny Feathered Dino Is Most Birdlike Yet.” Science Magazine. 290.5498. (8 Dec 2000). 1871-1872.
978 1978Mr. WhitbyEnglish 106 November 2017Picture Perfect PenguinsWhen I read this writing prompt, I wondered how Rosemarie Keough almost died taking a penguin’s picture. Perhaps she was standing on the edge of a cliff and either fell off (and was somehow rescued) or almost fell off. Perhaps the penguin attacked her and tried to kill her, although I don’t believe that that is a normal behavior for penguins. Perhaps the time required to take the photo resulted in her getting caught in a snowstorm, which are very bad in Antarctica as I understand it. These are all possible reasons for this statement, although I don’t know which one is accurate. To tell this story I will select my favorite: the attacking penguin.Rosemarie
Dr. Dr. h.c. Grzimk, Bernhard. “The Penguins.” Animal Life Encyclopedia. Volume 7, Birds I. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold Company, 1968.
Williams, T. D., Wilson, R. P, Boersma P.D, Stokes, D. L. Davies, J. and Busby, J. (1995) The Penguins: Spheniscidae. Oxford: Oxford UP. Print.
Would it really be so bad if all forgot who they were born to be?
The diet of polar bears is: walruses, seal, and whale carcasses. Ringed seal is their main food. Polar bears are true carnivores, which mean that they feed mainly of meat. Sometimes these bears walk around for days and weeks without finding any food.
Although sharks belong to the class Chondrichtyes, there are many different types. Sharks arose about 350 million years ago and have remained virtually unchanged for the past 70 million years and still comprise a dominant group. It is thought that sharks almost certainly evolved from placoderms, a group of primitive jawed fishes. It took a long series of successful and unsuccessful mutations with fin, jaw positions etc to give us all the different designs of sharks around today. When asked to draw a shark, most people would draw a shape along the lines of the whaler shark family, tigers or a mackeral shark such as a porbeagle. However many people do not realize the sheer diversity in the shape of sharks, or that rays are really sharks. Seldom does such an animal inspire such a variety of emotions reflecting a mixture of fascination, awe and fear. Sharks have occasionally exacted a terrible price from humans who have trespassed on their territory. No better understood than the ocean that they inhabit, these creatures should be regarded in the same way as lions, tigers, and bears: as dangerous, predatory but nonetheless magnificent animals. Different Types of Sharks Living sharks are divided into eight major orders, each easily recognizable by certain external characteristics. Each order contains one or more smaller groups, or families. In all there are 30 families of sharks and they contain the 350 or more different kinds or species of sharks. The eight major orders of sharks include the Squantiformes, Pristiophormes, Squaliformes, Hexanchiformes, Carcharhiniformes, Lamniformes, Orectolobiformes, and the Heterodotiformes.
Emperor Penguins have short stiff tails which helps with balance, a highly specialized bird skeleton and powerful claws. There chicks have soft down for added insulation. Behavioural adaptations involve huddling together in winter to conserve heat, and unlike other species they are not aggressively territorial. They breed during the depths of the Antarctic winter, but no nest in made, the eggs sit on the parents’ feet. When a female Emperor Penguin lays her egg, the male carries it on his feet. Physiological adaptations a complex heat exchange system allows heat to be recaptured from breath. They dive to about 1,800 feet and can hold their breath for up to 22 minutes. The male Emperor Penguins can fast for up to 100
Standing in a short line, ¬¬ I viewed the penguins’ exhibit a few steps outside the invisible doorway of a rocky cave. Seeing this place made me feel as excited as a five-year-old kid eager to open up his Christmas presents.