Penguins, courtesy of Wikipedia

Penguins (order Sphenisciformes, family Spheniscidae) are a group of aquatic, flightless birds living almost exclusively in the southern hemisphere, especially in Antarctica. Highly adapted for life in the water, penguins have countershaded dark and white plumage, and their wings have become flippers. Most penguins feed on krill, fish, squid, and other forms of sealife caught while swimming underwater. They spend about half of their lives on land and half in the oceans.

Although all penguin species are native to the southern hemisphere, they are not found only in cold climates, such as Antarctica. In fact, only a few species of penguin live so far south. Several species are found in the temperate zone, and one species, the Galápagos Penguin, lives near the equator.

The largest living species is the Emperor Penguin (Aptenodytes forsteri): adults average about 1.1 m (3 ft 7 in) tall and weigh 35 kg (75 lb) or more. The smallest penguin species is the Little Blue Penguin (Eudyptula minor), also known as the Fairy Penguin, which stands around 40 cm tall (16 in) and weighs 1 kg (2.2 lb). Among extant penguins, larger penguins inhabit colder regions, while smaller penguins are generally found in temperate or even tropical climates (see also Bergmann's Rule). Some prehistoric species attained enormous sizes, becoming as tall or as heavy as an adult human. These were not restricted to Antarctic regions; on the contrary, subantarctic regions harboured high diversity, and at least one giant penguin occurred in a region not quite 2,000 km south of the equator 35 mya, in a climate decidedly warmer than today. (courtesy of Wikipedia)

Sunday, September 25, 2011

Most Numerous of the 17: Magellanic Penguins. And a bit of Albert Einstein.

Magellanic Penguins. Photo by, and courtesy of, gatomato
I particularly like this photo of three magellanic penguins because it shows the texture of skin, feet, face -- not fluffy or feathery, but adapted to life along the coast of Argentina, Chile, and the Falkland Islands. In the Falklands, the population of this 4-kg penguin is at about 20% of its 1990 population, due to commercial fishing. But for the magellanic penguins in Argentina and Chile, life hasn't been so terrible. Except when there are oil spills, which are deadly to this bird. (For the range of threats, click here.)

Another detail about the magellanic penguins: They are the ONLY penguins that live in burrows. That's a point that the International Penguin Conservation Work Group (the IPCWG) wants us all to notice -- because this group has a penguin adoption program. And it's illegal to mark the bird you're adopting (of course!) so the IPCWG puts a sign with your name on it at the bird's burrow. A little corny maybe, especially since you get to specify the name you're going to "call" your adopted penguin! But very sweet. And, more to the point, helpful, since the US$55 adoption fee goes almost entirely to penguin conservation. (Ready to consider adoption? Or to give this as a birthday, holiday, or sympathy gift to someone? http://www.seabirds.org/adopt.htm.)

The IPSWG is legitimate, with a 2009 appearance on BBC. And what I like best about its adoption program -- besides the clever twist that mean almost all of the money you send really goes to helping the group help the birds -- is that with your payment, you get an electronic version of Dr. Mike Bingham's book Penguins of the Falkland Islands. Here's the detailed scoop on the 17 penguin species: the real thing.

No, the "real" penguins probably don't seem as cute or cuddly as the plush ones at the toy store. (Same applies to most people, doesn't it?) But reality rocks. And that's my mantra for the day. Make it real.

A little side note about checking sources and information: A few weeks ago, I ran across an "Albert Einstein" quote that I thought of using here -- one phrased in several versions like, "The significant problems we face cannot be solved at the same level of thinking that was used when we created them." I couldn't verify that Einstein said or wrote this, so I bought a copy of a 2011 book, The Ultimate Quotable Einstein, collected and edited by Alice Calaprice with a forward by Freeman Dyson and published by the Princeton University Press. The quote I'd sought turns up in a final chapter of the book, one that deals with words circulating on the Internet and in other public places and being called Einstein's. Calaprice doesn't find any evidence that Einstein actually said this one! But she suggests two other morsels that he really did say: "A new type of thinking is essential if mankind is to survive and move toward higher levels" (1946), and "Past thinking and methods did not prevent world wars. Future thinking must."

Reality rocks.
Posted by Beth Kanell at 6:51 AM 0 comments
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