Tag Archive | Adaptations

Penguin Adaptations

Penguins are tough. The can survive in the polar environment of Antarctica. But some penguins live in, Victoria Australia, South Africa, South America and New Zealand. Antarctic penguins spend a lot of time in the water because to them the water seems warmer than the below zero temperature in Antarctica.

Emperor penguins can dive up to 530m below sea level. Emperor penguins weigh 38kg so that might help them dive so deep. Adelie penguins on the other hand weigh 5kg. When Emperor penguins dive they have to hold their breath 20 minutes so they can dive deep. A penguins wings are not for flying but swimming. They can swim at 13k per hour. But at short bursts they can swim at 40k per hour. They are classified as flightless birds.

Like other birds penguins have feathers. A penguins feathers are used to form a waterproof layer to keep them warm and dry. When a penguin is born they have soft and fluffy feathers so they do not keep them warm or dry. That would be the parents job. 3/4 of a penguins insulation is their tightly packed feathers. They also have a layer of blubber (fat) to keep them warm and have food reserve for if they can’t find food.

When a penguin mates it’s for life. Soon they will lay eggs in the winter so the penguin chicks are ready to help catch food in Summer. When a parent goes to find food for the chick the chick is told to stay in the same place. When the parent gets back they can only recognize each other by the sounds they make. So if the chick is not where the parent left it leaves the chick will be in danger. But when they call out to each other they can only hear if they are in a 10m radius. So it would be hard for them to reunite.

A penguin eats a variate of sea life like fish, (mainly fish) also squid, crabs, shrimp and krill. For a small animal a penguin eats a lot. In one dive a large penguin can collect 30 fish. Penguins will eat lots of food from their blubber so in the winter when they don’t catch as much food they still have fat to burn. They will also collect lots of food for their chicks.

There are many types of penguin. There is estimated to be between 16-20 species. Species vary in the way they look like some are black and white while some also have an orange beak. Surprisingly to many people penguins don’t have gills. So they had to adapt so now emperor penguins can hold their breath for 20 minutes.

This term for our science unit we were researching animal adaptations. We had to research an animal and write a blog post about their animals adaptations. Most adaptations are to survive like a penguin learns to hold their breath and to dive deep.

What animal would you do a project like this on?