Penguin

A gentoo penguin on Petermann Island, near the Antarctic Peninsula (photo: U.S. Antarctic Program).

Primarily found in the southern hemisphere, there are about 17 species of Penguin. These relatively large-bodied flightless birds are superb divers. Unlike birds of the air, they divide their time between land and water, raising their young on the dry land and hunting and feeding underwater. Adapted to harsh environments of barren land and cold water, Penguins are found from their southernmost range on Antarctica, at the south pole, north to the Galapagos Islands near the equator. Penguins incubate their eggs using little or no nesting materials on the hard substrates of their habitats. Especially thick eggshells apparently account for the rarity of prematurely broken penguin eggs. In Magellanic Penguins (Spheniscus magellanicus), evidence shows that mollusk shells are preferentially eaten by females during the "egg period", when shells are formed and eggs are laid. (P Dee Boersma, Ginger A Rebstock, David L Stokes. WHY PENGUIN EGGSHELLS ARE THICK The Auk. Washington: Jan 2004. Vol.121, Iss. 1; pg. 148, 8 pgs).

All penguins are marked with light and dark feathers, and

the best known is probably the largest, the emperor penguin.

Penguins are well-known worldwide for their apparently clumsy nature on land, where they can be observed waddling awkwardly in large colonies. All this changes, however, when penguins take to the water; it is underwayer that pengions "fly". Their bodies are well-adapted by evolution to make them superb divers, moving at speed through the frigid Antarctic Ocean or warmer waters further north.

Predators

South Polar Skuas (Catharacta maccormicki) are important predators of Adelie Penguin (Pygoscelis adeliae) chicks and eggs.

Penguins and climate change

are subject to a substantial body of research work, as their health and survival rates could provide a good barometer for measuring climate change and how well they adapt to an increased human presence in their natural habitat.

Origin of the word 'penguin'

The word penguin first indisputably appears in a letter of 1578 from Newfoundland; however, its true origins remain obscure. There are three main claims about its etymology in circulation, but no firm view; the following are the best known.

One popular claim about the etymology of penguin is that it is from the Welsh pen gwyn, meaning 'white head'. This story relies on Celtic sailors in the northern hemisphere bestowing this name on the now-extinct Great Auk, a flightless bird unrelated to the Penguin but occasionally mistaken for it. Due to this confusion, penguin was later applied to penguins rather than auks. However, scholars have found fault with the idea that sailors from predominantly English-speaking regions would give the bird a Welsh name; indeed, the other name for the Great Auk, garefowl, is Norse, a language more usually associated with sailors of the North Atlantic. Not only that, but both penguins and great auks have rather more black than white on their heads (see photo). A further reason to dispute the Penguin's Welsh connections is that the sixteenth-century inhabitants of Newfoundland apparently referred to the Great Auk as 'Pin Wing', in reference to its rudimentary wings. This name supposedly spread to the penguins far to the south, though there is little firm evidence for this.

One other possible origin for penguin is from the Latin word for 'fat', pinguis - somehow, this word came to be applied to penguins in English, possibly through the legendary auk-penguin mix-up. This may be related to the fact that the Great Auk's Latin name is Pinguinus. This story seems to exist simply because a Latin word happens to resemble the English penguin; no relationship has been established.

See also

• Reaction of penguins to aircraft
• Penguins in the northern hemisphere
• Penguin (word)
• Tux

External links

• Penguins - British Antarctic Survey