penguin

penguin

Penguin (RO 1971, Penguin) is a bird Spheniscidae family, the Southern Hemisphere feature, especially in the Antarctic and Islands of the southern seas, come to Tierra del Fuego, the Falkland Islands and South Africa, among others. Despite the greater diversity of penguins found in Antarctica and polar regions, there are also species living in the tropics such as the Galapagos penguin. The morphology of penguins reflects several adaptations to life in the aquatic environment: the body is fusiform; the atrophied wings play the fins function and feathers are waterproofed by secreting oils. Penguins feed on small fish, krill and other marine life, which in turn victims of predatory orcas and leopard seals.

The name "Penguin" is another bird that inhabited the regions of the Arctic and was extinguished by man, the great auk (Pinguinus impennis). When European explorers discovered in the southern hemisphere birds known today as penguins, they noticed a very similar to the great auk appearance, or even mingling with guillemots, and christened with the name that persists to the present. Although similar, guillemots and penguins have no close kinship. The term Penguin is originally from Welsh pen gwyn, the old popular name of guillemots giants in the British Isles.

The first Penguins appeared in the geological record of the Eocene. Penguins are the Spheniscidae family and Sphenisciformes order (according to the taxonomy of Sibley-Ahlquist, would be part of Ciconiformes order). It is a sea and swimming bird, getting to swim with a speed of up to 45 km / h, spending most of the time in the water.