Oct 4/08
Penguins
When you think about a penguin, you probably think of comical animals that waddle along the ice. Ever since I’ve watched “March Of The Penguins” I’ve been intrigued by these birds. Their life is actually more interesting than you think. Did you know that they can swim up to 50 kph?
Life
Archaeologists have found penguin fossils that are about 50 million years old. It is estimated that there are about a hundred million penguins in the world. Of those hundred million penguins, there are 17 different species. They are unique to other birds because they swim instead of fly. The average lifespan of a penguin is around 15-20 years, but it really depends on the species. Penguins do not live alone; instead they live in large groups called colonies. It’s advantageous to live in colonies because it gives better protection against predators and it’s easier to get food. If there are all these penguins in the world, why have you probably never seen one?
Habitat
Brrr! All penguins live in the Southern Hemisphere. You can find them in South Africa, Oceania, South America and of course Antarctica. Penguins are adapted to very cold climates. Antarctica, which is the most southern continent, has 90% of its surface as ice. Antarctica has so much ice, that in the winter it is approximately the size of Africa! Some penguins make nests out of rocks, but others do not use nests. In a penguin’s habitat there are many harsh weather conditions that make it more difficult for penguins to survive. Penguins have protection to survive the cold and their predators.
Defence
A young penguin’s most vital enemy is the cold. Many penguins die due to extreme cold and food shortages. To prot...
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...into the chick’s stomach. The males return to sea to feed themselves. When the chick grows feathers they are left alone for periods of time. This is when they are vulnerable to skuas and Artic foxes. At five months of age, the chick is ready to leave the colony and get its own food. The process of breeding among penguins is tough and tragic, but in the end it’s worth it.
Conclusion
Penguins are the coolest birds in the world. From their life to their habitat to their breeding, it’s all very interesting. Some species of penguins are endangered, threatened by oil spills, global warming and over harvesting of fish. Penguins also die in zoos easily because they have natural protection against germs outside their habitat. While writing this, I learned a lot of information about penguins and I hope you learned something about penguins too.
As scientists, we have come to this island to observe the evolution of finches when forced into an unfamiliar habitat with a changing food supply.
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...
She states that most, if not all, of the movies that make up this new genre of movie “works not to emphasize the difference between humans and nonhumans, as it does in so many other Pixar features, but instead makes the characters into virtual puppets…” (284). Once puppetized, these characters can be made to do whatever they, the directors, please. Such as re-write and re enforce gender roles, as it is shown in March of the Penguins, with how the directors showed how the males were in charge of watching and protecting the eggs while the females left to find food (whereas in human society it is the opposite). Or they can solidify heterosexuality, by stating that all of the penguin relationships are strictly male/ female. Then by taking this bourgeois concept of heterosexuality and advertising it as full of variety and elasticity.
Miller uses the process of penguin reproduction to explain what it looks like to follow an inward compass. Essentially after penguins lay an egg, the females go hunting out to sea while the males stay and keep the egg warm. When the females come back from the sea, which is a several mile journey, they often make it back within a day or two of the eggs hatching. After explaining the process of penguin reproduction, Miller explains, "They [penguins] have this radar inside them that told them when and where to go and none of it made any sense, but they show up on the very day their babies are being born, and the radar always turns out to be right" (57). The seemingly irrelevant story about penguin sex, is actually decidedly relevant to the reader 's life. Miller suggests that each and every day one must decide to follow a calling within oneself. Readers can easily gain a mental picture of the penguin sex whereas it is much more difficult to have a mental picture of the concept of following an internal compass within ourselves. Oftentimes the best way to describe difficult concepts is to compare them to more concrete things, and this can be done through
Piping Plovers are endangered because of habitat loss and degradation. Homes and roads are being built onto their habitat. Off-road vehicles run over and destroy their nest.
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.
The Arctic Fox, Alopex lagopus, is considered to be one of the first mammals to have colonized Sweden and Finland after the last Ice Age. Due to their thick fur, large fat reserves, specialized circulatory systems that help them retain heat, and their ability to lower their metabolic rate to endure periods of starvation make them the perfect candidate to live in the two coldest habitats in the world—the Arctic tundra and the frozen sea. These habitats are found in Alaska, Canada, Greenland, Iceland, Russia, and Scandinavia. According to worldwildlife.org, temperatures in the Arctic are rising twice as fast as the rest of the world (1). Climate change is believed to affect the Arctic Fox population in three important ways—habitat loss, changes in prey abundance, and increased competition with red foxes.
When the Atlantic Puffin’s young becomes mature enough to leave the nest, it will wait until night to emerge. Often its first time out of the nest, the young puffin becomes acclimated to its surroundings and begins to descend the perilous cliff face. Once it reaches the bottom, it will quickly travel out to sea. It leaves the island alone and will not return to land for two to three years.
... high tolerance to carbon dioxide in the tissues, they have the ability to store large amounts of oxygen in the muscle tissues, and they have the ability to make their lungs collapse when air is expelled before they dive, which helps to prevent the bends. To help see in dark and murky waters, the seals have special adapted eyes that make them able to see in such conditions. To guard against very cold water temperatures, harbor seals maintain a thick layer of fat beneath their skin, giving them a thick sausage shape. To make the harbor seals less noticeable to predators, their coats sometimes blend in with the rocks or sand they?re lying in. To help them find food easier, they have a keen sense of smell. Without these adaptations, who knows if the Harbor Seal would still exist today.
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.
8. Taylor, Dan. 1998. Audubon Society Inspired to Action by Bird Die -offs . 17 Jan. 1998 . E-mail . Available bkus@sunstroke.sdsu.edu
Sorry guys you’re stuck in the goblins grisly nightmare,” said a voice from the mouth of the cave. A penguin was perched on a rock. There was a hint of daring in its glowing purple gaze. It looked daunting, almost dangerous and I recognized that tone, which was more ladylike than you’d expect from an aquatic, flightless bird.
Movies such as Mary Poppins, Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town, Happy Feet, Surf’s Up, and Madagascar have portrayed penguins as lovable, comical creatures with intelligent minds and adorable faces. Simply put: humans have idealized the penguin. Indeed, it is a well-known fact that most species of penguin form loyal monogamous bonds, also known as mating for life. However, there are other penguin facts which are largely unknown. For example, few individuals know that penguins have a body temperature between “100 and 102 degrees” Fahrenheit (Lynch, 1997, p. 35). When we remember that humans have a...
The habitat of the South Pole is far too harsh for most organisms to survive. Only in some of the milder areas are some plant life present such as lichen and moss. Penguins are mostly found in the southern hemisphere of the earth, mostly in