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I don't think it's possible to find a cuter picture! I found this picture on the Animal Planet Website when I searched for Penguins. Believe it or not, this IS a species of penguin. In fact, it's a king penguin chick! This chick has extra downy feathers to keep warm during its first winter.
The chick is born in the middle of the summer, where the mother and father both protect and feed it for a little over a month. When the summer ends, the parents actually leave their young. The chick must huddle together with others to keep warm in the winter. The parents return every once in a while to help feed their chick. When spring comes, the family is reunited again. The chick is fed until it grows adult feathers of its own, which usually happens later that summer.
On the island of Crozet (near Antarctica), there are four distinct penguin species: the Rockhopper, Gentoo, Macaroni, and King penguins.
The Rockhopper Penguin is shown above. It is the smallest crested penguin, and the only crested penguin with a black occipital crest, allowing it to change the shape of their face. It is often confused with the Macaroni Penguin, although it is about 20-30% smaller.
According to Animal Planet, "The Rockhopper usually gets about jumping from rock to rock, hence, the name Rockhopper."
The Gentoo Penguin is the fastest penguin in the ocean, reaching 22 miles per hour. It is known for the white stripes over its eyes which meet across the crown. The Gentoo is pictured below.
Macaroni Penguins are the most abundant species of penguin in the world. It is similar to the Rockhopper, but larger. Macaroni Penguins have orange feather plumes and are larger than other crested penguins. Macaroni Penguins are pictured below.
King Penguins are the second largest penguin after the Emperor Penguins, measuring about 3 feet tall and at an average of 33 pounds. Their breeding season lasts for about 14 months, making it impossible to breed annually. They are similar to Emperor Penguins, but are distinguished by orange coloring on their breasts, and actually run with their feet instead of hop. King Penguins are shown below.
Reichert,David. (2008). Creatures of Crozet: A Man Among Orcas. Retrieved on March 12, 2008 from http://animal.discovery.com/fansites/wildkingdom/orcas/tour/tour_04.html
Davis, Dr. Lloyd Spencer. (2008). Macaroni Penguin. Retrieved on March 12, 2008 from http://www.penguinworld.com/types/macaroni.html
Okay everyone, so I found some really interesting research on recently discovered penguin species that lived 30-40 million years ago.
According to Science Teacher, "A Researcher from North Carolina, in collaboration with U.S., Peruvian and Argentine, has shown that two previously undiscovered penguin species reached equatorial regions tens of millions of
years earlier than expected..."
Icadyptes salasi, pictured on the right, was 1.5 meters tall. The other species pictured on the left, Perudyptes devriesi, was about the size of the King Penguin, which is approximately 0.7-0.9 meters tall. Researchers believe that they represent a large part of penguin evolution never discovered before. It is interesting to note that these penguins lived in extremely warm climates during the Paleocene and Eocene Epochs. Evidence shows that these species are the only penguins to have lived in equatorial climates; they thrived.
Researchers are hypothesizing that each of the two new species developed in different areas. They believe that the Icadyptes salasi originated near New Zealand, while the Perudyptes devriesi was closer to Antarctica. These new fossil findings are helping anthropologists see what early penguins looked like by comparing their beaks and necks. However shocking this discovery, Science Teacher says, "Paleontologist Julia Clarke cautions against assuming that just because prehistoric penguins may not have been cold-adapted it does not mean living penguins will not be negatively affected by climate change."
*Science Teacher provided a picture of these new species as shown above.
(2007). New Extinct Penguin Species. Science Teacher, 74 (6). Retrieved on March 11, 2008 from Academic Search Premier.
Hello everyone! My name is Jennifer and I am a senior at Rowan University. I will be graduating with a degree in Writing Arts and will be going back to get my Teaching Certification for Elementary Education. I am new to blogging and actually have never thought about blogging before until my professor assigned a blog project for this semester. She told us that we can choose our topic, and since I absolutely love penguins, I thought it would be most appropriate to write a weblog on penguins!
I will be researching all different topics on penguins, such as their diet, mating patterns, and behaviors. I am very concerned with the problem that penguins are facing due to global warming, since it is affecting their habitat. I will be concentrating on that problem as well as discussing up to date news about them. I believe it is important for people to learn about the danger that penguins face because of global warming so that hopefully everyone will come together and help. I will also be researching ways in which people can save these poor creatures. Well, wish me luck! Here...goes!
I don't think it's possible to find a cuter picture! I found this picture on the Animal Planet Website when I searched for Penguins. Believe it or not, this IS a species of penguin. In fact, it's a king penguin chick! This chick has extra downy feathers to keep warm during its first winter.
Macaroni Penguins are the most abundant species of penguin in the world. It is similar to the Rockhopper, but larger. Macaroni Penguins have orange feather plumes and are larger than other crested penguins. Macaroni Penguins are pictured below.
