Penguin

Penguin

                      

• Penguins are birds but they are unable to fly.
• There are 17 recognised species of penguin, but only four of them actually live at the Antarctic: the Adelie, Emperor, Chinstrap and Gentoo penguins.
• Penguins have a thick layer of fat underneath the skin which helps to store energy.
• This thick layer of fat also insulates them.
• Penguin feathers are specially designed. They are short and have an under-layer of fine woolly down, and easily shed water - a useful characteristic given that penguins spend up to 70% of their time in the water.
• Penguin feathers are shaped to overlap, enabling better streamlining for penguins when they are in the water, and protection from the wind when they are on land.
• Penguin wings, which are really flippers, and their feet are prone to losing a lot of heat because they are less well insulated. However, this problem is minimised because the muscles that operate their feet and flippers are not located deeper in the warmer, protected regions of the penguin's body. Long tendons move their feet and flippers, so it doesn't matter when the feet and flippers get too cold as they can still be operated normally.
• Penguins have dark feathers on the broad expanse of their backs. These black feathers absorb the heat of the sun, helping to warm up the birds.
• Penguins have a specially designed circulatory system which can adjust to conserving or releasing heat to maintain a constant temperature.