Five cool facts about penguins you should know
Penguins are birds. But they can't fly. In fact, they are unlike any bird you have seen chilling in your balcony or at the park. That is because they have adapted to their cold environment so well, it makes them quite unique. And aren't they just adorable? Here are five cool facts about these black-and-white creatures that are worth knowing.
How many species of penguins are there?
At present, there exist 18 species of penguins, found in several countries, all the way from Antarctica to the Equator. Emperor penguin, King penguin, Little penguin, Galapagos penguin, and Adelie penguin are a few well-known ones. However, scientific records prove that there were at least 25 penguin species at some point in time, many of which have gone extinct overtime.
Where to find a penguin?
When you think of a penguin, you'd imagine an endless sheet of ice underneath it. That's because penguins almost exclusively reside on the southern hemisphere. A lot of them live in Antarctica, while some of them are found in countries like Chile, Peru, New Zealand, South Africa, Australia. Galpagos is the only species that has some of its members living in the northern hemisphere.
How do they swim so well?
Many species of birds are adapted to flying by having lightweight, hollow bones. Penguins, on the other hand, have dense bones, which make diving easier for them. In fact, they can take dives as deep as 250m beneath the top of the water. Fun fact: The deepest penguin dive on record is by a female emperor penguin, that dived to 535m below the surface.
Their bodies can filter saltwater
Since they eat so much seafood, penguins also take in high amounts of saltwater. So how do they deal with it? Interestingly, they have a gland, located just above their eye, called the supraorbital gland, which filters the salt from their bloodstream. It is then excreted from their body through their bill or by way of sneezing. Talented fellows, aren't they?
Their love knows no bounds
Gay penguins have been around for a long time. They were first observed more than a century ago by British explorer George Murray Levick. Back then, he mentioned about extensive homosexual relations between Adelie penguins. Since then, same sex-loving penguins have been documented across several species. In fact, many homosexual penguin couples in zoos around the world are today successfully raising adopted chicks.
