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The name "penguin" was
originally given to a bird that is now called the Great Auk
(pictured at left). It was a large flightless bird with black and
white markings. It was native to the North Atlantic ocean. (The
great Auk has been extinct since 1844). When adventurers started
exploring the southern oceans, they discovered more birds that
resembled the northern "penguin" and called them penguins too.
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| Penguins live south of
the equator. The farthest north they live is on the Galapagos
Islands. Even though it is warm there, the Humboldt current
keeps the water cool. |
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Shiny feathers uniformly
overlap to cover a penguin's skin (del Hoyo, et al., 1992). Feathers
are highly specialized-short, broad, and closely spaced, helping to
keep water away from the skin. Tufts of down on the feather shafts
contribute to the insulative properties of the feathers.
Penguins have more feathers than most other birds, with about 70
feathers per square inch. Most penguin species go through one
complete molt (shed their feathers) each year, usually after the
breeding season. The exception is the Galapagos penguin, which
usually goes through two molts annually (del Hoyo, et al., 1992).
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| The emperor penguin is
the largest of all living penguins and the fairy penguin is
the smallest. |
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Penguins don't fly, but they do swim.
How fast do penguins swim?
It varies from species to species — generally, larger species swim
faster than small ones.
Black footed penguins
and Gentoo penguins have been measured swimming at about 15 miles an
hour (24 km/hr). That's four times faster than the fastest human
swimmer! (Answer taken from the |
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| Click on this site for a
penguin web cam. It is live from 7AM to 7PM Pacific time.
The time would be 10AM to 10PM for us. It is really cool to
see the penguins. |
http://www.mbayaq.org/efc/efc_splash/splash_cam.asp |
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http://interactives.mped.org/view_interactive.aspx?id=120&title= |
Click on this site for a
great penguin web quest! |
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