Can penguins fly? Flying penguins

Do penguins fly? and got the best answer

Answer from Daisy[active]
General characteristics
The largest of the modern representatives is the emperor penguin, height 110-120 cm, weight up to 46 kg, the smallest are representatives of the little penguin, height 30-40 cm, weight 1-2.5 kg. Such significant differences are explained by Bergmann's rule, of which penguins are a common example. Bergmann's rule states that animals living in cold regions have larger body sizes, since this contributes to a more rational ratio of the volume and surface of the animal's body and thereby reduces heat loss.
Emperor penguins in Antarctica
Body structure
Penguins are distinguished from all other birds by their special body structure. Penguins have a streamlined body shape, which is ideal for moving in water. Their musculature and bone structure allow them to operate their wings almost like propellers underwater. Unlike other flightless birds, penguins have a sternum with a clearly defined keel, to which powerful muscles are attached. Swimming underwater differs from flying in the air in that the same energy is expended in raising the wing as in lowering it, since water resistance is greater than air resistance, therefore penguin shoulder blades have a larger surface area on which the muscles are attached compared to other birds. responsible for lifting the wing. The humerus and forearm bones are connected straight and motionless at the elbow, which increases the stability of the wing. The pectoral muscles are unusually developed and sometimes account for up to 30% of body weight, which is several times greater than the muscles of the most powerful flying birds. The femurs are very short, the knee joint is immobile, and the legs are noticeably set back, causing an unusually straight gait. Large feet with a swimming membrane are relatively short - when on land, animals often rest, standing on their heels, while the rigid tail feathers serve as additional support for them. The tail of penguins is greatly shortened, since the steering function, which it usually has in other waterfowl, is performed primarily by the legs in penguins. The second obvious difference between penguins and other birds is bone density. All birds have tubular bones, which makes their skeleton lighter and allows them to fly or run fast. But in penguins they are similar to the bones of the mammals dolphins and seals and do not contain internal cavities.

Reply from White and fluffy[guru]
No

Reply from Negromen[newbie]
I'm going to fall out of my mind, how can penguins fly, this is a montage, I did it like that

Reply from Sea Uncle AU[guru]
Yes, what progress has come - We flew away!!:)))
Penguins fly beautifully underwater; you can only call their movement with the help of flipper wings. It seems this flight was copied as a great joke :))

Reply from @ndrewK@ledin[guru]
penguins are not birds, they do not fly, just like chickens and ostriches

Reply from *Zhenechka*[active]
Of course not!

Reply from Carolina Katasova[active]
Penguin sizes range from 40 cm to 115 cm, weight from 1 to 46 kg. They are distinguished from all other birds by a completely special body structure. Penguins have a streamlined body shape, which is ideal for flying in water. The forelimbs of penguins are nothing more than flippers
And they fly in the water!

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Penguins are flightless birds, but they can take to the air if they need to.

In particular, this technique helps penguins escape from natural enemies, such as leopard seals or killer whales, and also get out of deep water onto a rocky shore.

The mechanism that allows penguins to take flight has not yet been studied. However, now a group of Irish scientists have found that before making a jump, these birds use their wings to create a large number of air bubbles in the water and thus overcome the resistance of the water, obtaining jet acceleration.

Scientists made this discovery by watching in slow motion video footage filmed for the popular BBC children's program Blue Peter, which also talks about the animal world.

Neither fly nor crawl

At first glance, it seems impossible for penguins to rise into the air above water. These plump birds are known for their awkward, waddling gait.

Their bodies are ideally suited for movement in water - the bones of penguins, unlike other birds, are similar to the bones of mammals, and the wings are connected to the body so that they can be operated under water, like propellers.

However, many members of the penguin family can take to the air.

Due to their body shape and inability to crawl, penguins have difficulty getting ashore, especially where there are rocks. And sometimes it is not at all possible to rise from the depths of the sea to an ice block.

That's why penguins learned to jump out. First, they rise to the surface, break through the edge of the ice, momentarily break away from the water, and, shaking themselves off, land on their chest - already on dry land.

Smaller species, such as the Adélie penguin, can fly 2-3 meters into the air and then land on sharp rocks without a scratch.

But more major representatives families, such as the largest, king penguins, rise above the surface of the water by only 20-45 cm. Although this is enough for them.

Air bubbles

Biologists were most concerned about one question: why do these birds, when jumping out of the water, leave a “tail” of air bubbles behind them? No one could understand what these bubbles were or where they came from.

However, five years ago a group of biologists in Ireland decided to tackle this problem. It was in the city of Cork, where two scientists - Professor Roger Newes from Bangor University and Professor John Davenport from University College Cork - met in a pub on the eve of a scientific symposium and realized that neither of them knew the answer to the question that was occupying them so much .

Scientists requested materials from the BBC television program Blue Peter recording the behavior of penguins. They watched the film frame by frame, analyzing the speed and angle of rise from the water, thereby calculating the biomechanical formula for the birds' movement.

This analysis resulted in several interesting discoveries. First, the air bubbles released by the penguins did not come from the lungs. They were formed as a result of the work of the wings.

"We were shocked by this observation," said Professor Davenport.

The researchers also concluded that air bubbles seem to form a “shirt” around the birds’ bodies when they soar above the surface of the water at a speed of 19 km per hour.

To carry out further research, Irish scientists joined forces with Professor Paul Larsen from Denmark, a specialist in mathematics and fluid dynamics. The result of their joint efforts was published in May 2011.

Penguins are birds that nature has deprived of the ability to fly. There are several reasons for this injustice. So why don't penguins fly?

No cavities in the bones

The bones of any flying bird are hollow, which makes them weightless, making it easier for birds to take off and soar in the air. Penguin bones are not light, they are very dense and more similar to the skeleton of mammals, including humans. Perhaps that's why people don't fly?

Wings not suitable for flight

Penguins do not fly because their wings do not have long flight feathers that allow birds to float freely in the air; they do not bend and are more reminiscent of a fish fin than a bird's snout. The bones and muscles of penguin limbs are endowed with greater massiveness, which helps them cope well with water masses when moving underwater. Flying birds do not need to use as much effort to navigate the air.

Anatomical feature

Nature has taken care of the Arctic inhabitants: penguins have a thick two-centimeter layer of fat under their skin, and the bird’s body is covered with small and hard waterproof feathers, which perfectly protects them from hypothermia under water. Only these representatives of the bird world have a streamlined body, ideally adapted for underwater movements.

Evolution due to changes in habitat

Researchers never tire of arguing about the origin of penguins: it is believed that in the past these birds were able to fly, but over time they lost this ability. The reason for this lies in the change in living conditions: there is an urgent need to obtain deep-sea food.

Nature did its job, and gradually, under the constant need to dive and swim, penguins evolved into swimmers, while the ability to fly was lost as unnecessary. The wings became like oars, the feathers looked like scales, and the body acquired powerful muscle mass on the sternum and thighs.

Thus, the differences between penguins and flying birds are very significant and are determined by the need to dive and swim underwater. In addition, penguins have a number of differences in structure:

• their ears are tightly closed with short, hard feathers to prevent water from getting inside;
• The cornea of ​​the eyes is almost flat, which makes the vision of penguins maximally adapted to changes in light when diving to depth and at the same time contributes to mild myopia on land.

And yet the categorical belief that penguins do not fly at all is erroneous. An ordinary penguin, escaping from a pursuing predator, can rise into the air to a height of up to two meters, while a species of penguin called Adelie can fly to a height of three meters. In this they are helped by well-developed flippers, which make frequent helical movements at the moment of jumping. And if such maneuvers are carried out in the water column, the penguin can jump out of the sea, reaching a speed of up to 20 km/h.

Municipal budget educational institution

"Average secondary school No. 2" urban settlement Urengoy

Do penguins fly?

(research work)

Completed by: Olga Rusanova,

3b grade student

Head: Kolesnikova I.V.,

teacher primary classes

p.g.t. Urengoy, 2012

My research work is called "Do penguins fly?"

I want to know who penguins are, where they live, whether they fly or not.

In the process of work, I put forward the following hypotheses:

Let's assume that penguins are birds.

2) Let's say that penguins live at the North Pole.

3) I think penguins don't fly.

To test my hypotheses, I used the following research methods: searching for information on the Internet, reading popular science books.

During my work I learned the following:

Who are penguins?

Penguins can be called a symbol of a vast region of the Earth - Antarctica, or more precisely, the so-called Southern Ocean, where they live. And despite the fact that this part of the planet is the least populated by people, penguins can be considered one of the most famous representatives of the bird world. The secret of such popularity of these peculiar birds is very simple. Man has always been attracted to the animal world, first of all, by what is most similar to himself - monkeys, almost humanly intelligent dolphins... and, of course, penguins, similar in their appearance and gait to little people.

But penguins are notable not only for their “human-likeness.” Clumsy on land and unable to fly through the air, these birds can “fly” under water, they have “mastered” the harshest continent - Antarctica, they are able to raise offspring in the unimaginable conditions of the Antarctic winter... The penguin is a courageous and wonderful bird.

Penguins owe their popularity mainly to the emperor and Adelie penguins, which are often described in books or shown in films about Antarctica. In general, domestic scientists count from 16 to 18 living species of penguins. In the West, 17 species are most often spoken of. I will use the formula "17+1". In addition, about 40 more fossil species of penguins are known to science.

Where do penguins live?

Many people believe that this strange bird lives wherever it is cold: at the North Pole, at the South Pole, and so on. But penguins are found only in the Southern Hemisphere. They live in Antarctica (not in the Arctic!) and on the islands adjacent to the continent. They can also be found in more northern regions, such as Peru or southern Brazil, South West Africa, New Zealand and southern Australia.

Without a doubt, the penguin gained fame due to its comical resemblance to humans.

Penguins stand upright on their flat feet. Often they, like soldiers, line up in orderly rows. Their gait seems so majestic and important to us that it is difficult not to laugh. Their plumage, consisting of small, scale-like feathers, covers the entire body. It resembles a men's evening outfit, consisting of a tailcoat and a white shirt.

The penguin, which existed in prehistoric times, was almost two meters tall. You can imagine what an impression such a penguin would make today! There are now 17 species of penguins, the largest of which is the king penguin, reaching 1 meter in height and weighing about 36 kilograms.

Penguins are currently being hunted by humans for their fat, and legislation may need to be passed to protect them from extermination.

Penguins: do they fly or not?

Once upon a time, in time immemorial, the penguin could fly no worse than any other bird. But by now, only short wings remained of his wings, unsuitable for flight. How did this happen? One of the reasons, oddly enough, is that the penguin had few, if any, enemies. He lived in such remote Antarctic areas that there was practically no one to attack him. Therefore, he could calmly spend time on land or on water.

As generations of penguins passed without using their wings, these wings became smaller and stiffer until they were no longer suitable for flight. But penguins turned into excellent swimmers and divers, and these wings became excellent fins! Penguins also have a thick layer of fat that protects them from the terrible cold in their habitats.

Currently, penguins are flightless birds, but they can take to the air if they need to. In particular, this technique helps penguins escape from natural enemies, such as leopard seals or killer whales, and also get out of deep water onto a rocky shore.

The mechanism that allows penguins to take flight has not yet been studied. However, now a group of Irish scientists have found that before making a jump, these birds use their wings to create a large number of air bubbles in the water and thus overcome the resistance of the water, obtaining jet acceleration.

Scientists made this discovery by watching in slow motion video footage filmed for the popular BBC children's program Blue Peter, which also talks about the animal world.

In the process of work, I came to the following conclusions:

1) Penguins are birds that existed on earth in prehistoric times and still live today.

2) Penguins live in the Southern Hemisphere, mostly in Antarctica; can also be found in more northern regions: Peru, Brazil, South-West Africa, New Zealand and southern Australia.

3) Penguins are flightless birds, but they can take to the air if necessary.

Penguins seem like a bad joke of evolution, but evolution has no sense of humor - only expediency. What makes penguins funny is only the narrowness of human vision. We will tell you why they refused to fly and are worthy of respect

Having jumped out of the water, penguins travel 1–2 meters on their bellies across the ice. Photo: PAUL NICKLEN/GETTY IMAGES/FOTOBANK.COM

In Antarctica and the surrounding area, where penguins live, conditions are such that they would be suitable for some inhospitable planet. I would like to sympathize with the plight of the birds, but sympathy is the last thing they need. Living in unbearable (for other creatures) conditions is an evolutionary trick that allowed penguins to get rid of competitors and gain control of almost an entire continent. To survive in an extreme environment, penguins have developed a set of mechanisms, thanks to which they occupy a free ecological niche and feel comfortable in it.

Give up the sky

Penguins don't fly, which seems strange for birds, but in reality, not flying is the wisest evolutionary decision. Without the sky, penguins were able to focus on conquering the Antarctic seas and became ideal underwater hunters. Their main food is fish and marine arthropods, which swim quickly and often live at great depths. Hunting takes a lot of energy, and when trying to combine chasing fish and flying, something inevitably suffers. For example, the thick-billed guillemot, which also lives near the pole (though the North Pole, not the South) and feeds on fish, is forced to constantly rise into the air to escape from land-based predators. The relatively compact body and wings, which provide the streamlined shape necessary for diving, do not allow the guillemot to take off quickly. But even in the water, she is a mediocre hunter due to the fact that she is forced to retain many features that are unnecessary for swimming, without which flight is impossible. For example, on its wings it has so-called flight feathers, which significantly increase the wing area, and relative to the body, the guillemot’s wings themselves are much larger than those of a penguin.

The ancestors of modern penguins knew how to rise into the sky, and scientists have not yet figured out exactly when the birds abandoned costly flights and switched to diving. Most experts believe that the decisive role was played by the emergence large quantity mammals adapted to life in the seas, including cetaceans and pinnipeds, about 50 million years ago. Competition with these animals could have pushed the penguins to take a radical step.

Photo: REX FEATURES/FOTODOM.RU

Additionally, the determination to abandon the sky was supported by the fact that on the ground the penguins have almost no enemies from whom they need to fly away. Therefore, birds have been improving their underwater hunting skills for generations.

Take the sea

The characteristic plump, round body of penguins, seemingly so unsuitable for a serious hunter, is not an oversight of evolution, but competitive advantage, making penguins extremely effective pursuers. Thanks to their streamlined shape, these birds dive to a depth of two hundred meters and swim at speeds of up to 36 km/h. Unlike flying birds, whose bones have become graceful and hollow over millions of years of perfecting flight, the bone tissue of penguins is dense, and the feathers are more like scales. To make them more streamlined, the feathers are constantly lubricated with a special fat that is synthesized by the coccygeal gland.

On land, penguins comb and fluff their feathers, filling them with air. In water, where the pressure is higher, air bubbles leave the body, and the bird accelerates further. Photo: PAUL NICKLEN/GETTY IMAGES/FOTBANK.COM

The awkward gait of penguins is also associated with swimming. The short legs of birds are moved to the end of the body, just like the fins of cetaceans and fish. Thanks to this arrangement, even small vibrations of their moving limbs allow penguins to deftly maneuver and avoid obstacles. Therefore, for a penguin, paws are a steering wheel, and not a means of transportation on land. And on flat ice or wet sand, birds prefer to lie on their bellies and slide, as if on a sleigh, pushing off the surface.

Another awkward, at first glance, detail of the penguin’s appearance is its “tailcoat,” which is clearly visible on the white snow. It's hard to believe, but this coloring is camouflage! Penguin prey and all predators dangerous to birds live in the water, so appearance on land it is not so important. But in the sea, penguins hide well: from below, against the background of the sky and in bright sunlight, their light belly is not visible, and when viewed from above, their black back practically merges with the dark thickness of the water. In addition, the dark color absorbs the sun's rays better, giving the penguins extra warmth when they are on the shore. Coloration is extremely important for survival and successful hunting, and this trait is very tightly regulated by selection. If a penguin with a faded brown back is suddenly born into a population, then it has almost no chance of finding a partner: over millions of years of evolution, birds have come to consider such poor creatures terribly unattractive.

Defeat the cold

To survive in Antarctica, where winter temperatures regularly drop below -60°C, penguins have acquired serious “equipment.” Their plumage is impenetrable to wind, and the feathers themselves are reinforced with additional downy “twigs”. In addition, other birds have feathers only in certain areas (although you can’t tell from the outside), but the penguin is covered with dense “armor” from beak to paws. The lubricant from the coccygeal gland, which penguins distribute throughout their bodies with their beaks, protects against water, and thick skin and an insulating layer of fat help retain heat even in severe frosts, when other animals die from hypothermia and frostbite.

The paws of penguins standing on ice have a perfect heat dissipation system. Hot blood flowing to the extremities through the arteries, through a dense plexus of vessels, gives off its heat to the veins through which blood flows to the heart. Without this mechanism, the heart would simply stop, unable to withstand the influx of icy liquid. At the same time, already cooled blood gets into the paws themselves, so that the penguins do not waste heat on heating the ice.

Birds also use social mechanisms to combat the cold. Penguins huddled in giant flocks are always trampled - a seemingly natural movement in the cold. In fact, penguins are not just marking time, they are always moving in a certain direction, and so that each bird sooner or later ends up in the warmest place - the center of the crowd. So far, experts do not know how exactly such movement is controlled.

But why did penguins, even masters of adaptation, choose such a terrible climate to live in? The answer is simple: because they can live there. The number of animals that have ventured to explore Antarctica can be counted on one hand, so penguins find themselves in a unique position - they have few natural enemies and no competitors at all. This strategy of “going around the mountain,” that is, avoiding direct confrontation and fighting other species, is very successful: the population of the most numerous of the penguins, the golden-haired penguins, exceeds 18 million individuals.

“Ridiculous” penguins are excellent hunters and wise evolutionary strategists, almost single-handedly ruling the entire continent. Therefore, people who would not live even half an hour in Antarctica without clothing and sophisticated equipment should think twice before entering once again laugh at the “clumsy” birds.