Are penguins birds or animals? Questions and answers

Are penguins birds or animals? A familiar question, right? And this is understandable. Each of us either asked this question in childhood, or heard it from his children. Admittedly, not everyone knows the answer. So who are they, these amazing and important handsome penguins? Are they birds? Or animals? Or maybe it's fish?

A bit of history

For the first time Europeans noticed these amazingcreatures in 1499. One of the satellites of the famous Portuguese navigator Vasco da Gama was left recording, which described strange birds, something like geese, "with a cry that resembles the cries of donkeys ... They could not fly ..." Probably , they were also tormented by the question: "Are penguins birds or animals?"

After 12 years a similar record was mademember of the expedition of Magellan, the Italian Antonio Pigafetta. He wrote: "Strange geese, holding vertically, unable to fly, very fat ..." Actually, thanks to their fatness the birds got their first name. The fact is that "pigvis" in Latin means "fat". The scientific name "sfeniskus demersus" (in translation - "a small wedge immersed in water") was given to birds much later - in 1758. The new name became a brief characteristic, which emphasized both the shape of birds and their way of life.

If we talk about the very first acquaintance of penguinswith people, it was probably held in Australia. It turns out that during the archaeological excavations in ancient sites, the bones of these birds were found. Scientists suggest that penguin meat was in the diet of Australian Aborigines.

Short description

And yet ... Are penguins birds or animals? Any encyclopedia gives a clear answer to this question. Spheniscidae - a family of marine flightless, but well-floating and diving birds.

The only representatives of the detachmentpenguin-like. The family has 20 subspecies. The body of the penguins is streamlined, adapted for movement in water. Thanks to the musculature and the structure of the bones, these birds perfectly swim, while the role of propellers, forcing the speed, is performed by the wings. The sternum has developed musculature, which is about a quarter of the total weight, and a distinct keel. Femoral bones are rather short, knee joints are immovable, paws are displaced back (the reason for such strange and amusing gait). Feet large, short, with swimming membranes. The tail is greatly shortened, it acts as a support on land. "Steering" when swimming are primarily paws. The color of the penguins is characteristic: a black "coat" and a white tummy.

Why can not a penguin be called a fish?

This is another frequently asked question: "A penguin is a bird or a fish?" For some, the question will seem ridiculous, but, as it takes place, let's try to figure it out. In fact, if the penguin feels great underwater, why not call it a fish? Firstly, because in this environment he only hunts. But the penguin lives on land. There he also incubates eggs (he does not spawn like fish), he brings up offspring. Another important difference is the presence of feathers (very small, tightly fitting, evenly distributed over a thick fat layer). In addition, penguins are warm-blooded. True, the heat transfer system has its own, special and in some ways unique. Its "motor" is in wings and paws. The arterial blood flowing into them gives off the warmth of the venous (more cold), and that, in turn, flows back to the body (back). Heat losses in this way are minimal.

Food

The basis of the menu of penguins is Antarcticsilver, anchovy, sardines and crustaceans. Part they eat right under water, the rest - on land. Species that feed mainly on crustaceans have to spend much more energy on extraction. To fill the energy costs for diving alone, they should catch about two dozen crustaceans. Penguins, feeding mainly on fish, are much easier - they only have one successful dive out of ten. The duration of the hunting for each species is different and largely depends on the season. For example, Imperial penguins can do more than 800 dives. But during the moulting and the expectation of the offspring, the birds have to give up food altogether. During this time, about half the mass is lost. Penguins drink mostly seawater. Special glands located near the eyes, derive excess salt.

Reproduction

Why is the statement that the penguin is an animal, notcan be true? Evidence that this is a bird has been cited earlier. As new arguments let us consider the process of reproduction. To begin with, penguins are not viviparous, they hatch eggs like all birds. They nest in colonies, tens of thousands of pairs. Both the incubation of eggs and the feeding of the toddlers are answered by both parents who periodically replace each other.

The statement that the penguin is a mammal,refutes the way of feeding. Nestlings feed on milk, not semi-digested fish and crustaceans, which regurgitate parents. In the lower folds of the abdomen, babies "dive" in order to hide from the cold, and not for the sake of a portion of milk, as some believe.

The onset of maturity depends on gender and typebirds. In some, mating is possible in two years (small, subantarctic), in others - a year later (Antarctic, imperial, royal), in the third - only after five years (golden-haired).