How are penguins adapted to their environment?

Answer 1

For the most part, penguins are found in cold regions. Penguins are specially adapted to live in these colder areas, because they have blubber which can protect them from the cold. Cold water can remove heat from the body much faster than air, so a good insulator is required.

Penguins are adapted to live in and near the ocean because they eat fish. They have sharp, pointed beaks which enable them to effectively capture the fish on which they feed. They have special adaptations that allow them to live in the water. They cannot fly in air because their wings are too small for their body weight. The penguin is simply unable to create enough energy to take off. Penguins' wing bones are fused straight, rather than angled like a flying bird's, and this has the effect of making the wing rigid and powerful, like a flipper. The small wings and a streamlined body shape are ideal for diving in water.

Unlike the majority of other birds, penguins do not have hollow bones, so are much heavier and harder to support with their small wings. The solid, as opposed to hollow, bones act as ballast to help them dive. Also, being solid, they are less prone to breakage from the stresses of swimming. Some (but not all) flying birds have hollow bones to be lighter.

Penguins also have higher levels of myoglobin and feathers optimized for the aquatic environment. Myoglobin is the main way penguins store oxygen during their long dives. The muscles of flying birds are filled with mitochondria and enzymes to power flight, and there is no space left-over for myoglobin. So, flying birds cannot spend us much time underwater as penguins because they have less myoglobin (less oxygen per body mass) and lower body mass (less over oxygen).

Another reason why penguins live where they do is because they are able to optimise their feathers for the aquatic environment. Penguin feathers are short and tight to keep water away from the skin and to create a smooth surface to lower drag. Flying birds have very different feathers that are fluffy to trap air for insulation.

Penguins have short, round bodies, flat faces with fat pads over the sinuses, narrow noses, and a heavy layer of body fat. These adaptations provide minimum surface area in relation to body mass for minimum heat loss and protect the lungs and base of the brain against cold air in the nasal passages.

In summary, regardless of their environment, penguins are adapted to survive in a variety of ways.

• Penguins have a thick layer of fat underneath the skin which helps to store energy.
• This thick layer of fat also insulates them.
• Penguin feathers are specially designed. They are short and have an under-layer of fine woolly down, and easily shed water - a useful characteristic given that penguins spend up to 75% of their time in the water.
• Penguin feathers are shaped to overlap, enabling better streamlining for penguins when they are in the water, and protection from the wind when they are on land.
• Their body shape is also streamlined for rapid swimming and effective diving.
• Penguin wings, which are really flippers, and their feet are prone to losing a lot of heat because they are less well insulated. However, this problem is minimised because the muscles that operate their feet and flippers are not located deeper in the warmer, protected regions of the penguin's body. Long tendons move their feet and flippers, so it doesn't matter when the feet and flippers get too cold as they can still be operated normally.
• Penguins have dark feathers on the broad expanse of their backs. These black feathers absorb the heat of the sun, helping to warm up the birds.
• Penguins have a specially designed circulatory system which can adjust to conserving or releasing heat to maintain a constant temperature.
• Many species of penguins huddle together for warmth, and the eggs are incubated on the penguins' feet, where they get constant warmth.
• Penguins have webbed feet - this gives them speed for swimming.
• Penguins have solid bones that enable them to stay underwater for swimming and hunting. Flying birds have light, hollow bones, which could never withstand the stresses of this swimming.