How do you feel when you watch birds having dark and light plumage jumping here and there? Awesome, right?Such is the charm of penguins. They come under the category of aquatic and flightless birds. They reside in the Southern Hemisphere with one of their species known as Galapagos penguins found in the north of the equator. Most of them have dietary needs which sustain on Krill's, fishes, squids and varied other forms of sea life. It is said that they spend half of their lives on land and half in the water. The biggest living species is the ‘Emperor Penguin’ and the smallest being a little blue penguin.
Apart from the dapper appearance of the penguins, you can also get to know it’s a penguin by their rate of moving while walking or running. As they carve a way for themselves across the ice, they waddle seemingly to take all the time in the world without giving care to anything! And, I’m sure whenever you must have watched a penguin waddle, you would have had one question looming over year head and that is ‘Do penguins have knees?’. If you try an X-ray on Penguin legs, you would be surprised to know that they do have knees!
(Image Courtesy: Blog Spot)
A penguin’s knees are made up of four parts known as a femur, knee, tibia, and fibula. Also, humans hold the same bones in their legs. But another question that strikes our mind is that ‘Why are their legs short then?’ It’s sort of an optical illusion. Their flawless feathers hide the Penguin's upper legs. Next question that comes up in our mind is ‘Why do they waddle if they have knees? This question confused the scientists for some time. In present times, scientists believe that they waddle because their legs are patterned in a way to help them swim in a fast manner.
(Image Courtesy: Quora)
If sometimes you try to have a closer look at a penguin’s leg, you would notice that they are set far back on the body. They feel uncomfortable to walk on land due to this sole reason. It requires more energy to have a good walk on the land with those legs, Believe me! Also, do you know? Penguins walk on the soles of their feet instead of their toes like other birds. Consequently, waddling helps these birds to maximize their momentum while using a little amount of energy.
As penguins spend their maximum time in the blue water, therefore they learn to swim at a fast pace. They tend to use their tails and feet as rudders and their flippers act almost like wings on the other birds. Essentially, penguins fly through the water.
(Image Courtesy: Wondero Polis)
Wish to learn more about penguins, we will tell you how!
#1. Check out penguins online on SeaWorld's AnimalVision Penguin webcam. What are the penguins doing right now? Do you wish to pet one? Get all the details there on how to accomplish your dream.
#2. Do you adore penguins? Do you like playing puzzles? If your answer is a ‘Yes’ then you are going to like playing these online fun penguin jigsaw puzzles. Don’t forget to get a family member of first! May be, you could use two computers and see who wins first!
#3. If you think you have friends or relatives that are friendly and full of adventure spirit then get divided into two teams to compete against each other in a penguin waddle relay! This continues until and unless gets their turn. Let’s see, who can waddle the fastest?
Hope this article helped you! Let us know if you have some interesting information’s about on penguins!
(Featured Image Courtesy: National Geographic)
