https://community.credspark.com/p/penguinsWed, 29 Oct 2025 14:19:00 GMTc8da91aa-3925-4d82-b818-e84a8470bffe:e1f12d1b-e510-486d-9cf0-b59a7b0342ceADD QUIZ HERE PENGUINS Penguins are a group of flightless , semi-aquatic, sea birds which live almost exclusively in the Southern Hemisphere . Only one species , the Galápagos penguin , lives at, and slightly north of, the equator . Highly adapted for life in the ocean water, penguins have countershaded dark and white plumage and flippers for swimming. Most penguins feed on krill , fish , squid and other forms of sea life which they catch with their bills and swallow whole while swimming. A penguin has a spiny tongue and powerful jaws to grip slippery prey. [ 4 ] They spend about half of their lives on land and the other half in the sea. The largest living species is the emperor penguin ( Aptenodytes forsteri ): [ 5 ] on average, adults are about 1.1 m (3 ft 7 in) tall and weigh 35 kg (77 lb). The smallest penguin species is the little blue penguin ( Eudyptula minor ), also known as the fairy penguin, which stands around 30–33 cm (12–13 in) tall and weighs 1.2–1.3 kg (2.6–2.9 lb). [ 6 ] Today, larger penguins generally inhabit colder regions, and smaller penguins inhabit regions with temperate or tropical climates . Some prehistoric penguin species were enormous: as tall or heavy as an adult human. [ 7 ] There was a great diversity of species in subantarctic regions, and at least one giant species in a region around 2,000 km south of the equator 35 mya , during the Late Eocene , a climate decidedly warmer than today. [ 8 ] Etymology The name penguin was first used in the late 16th century for the Great Auk (pictured here) and was later applied to Southern Hemisphere birds due to their resemblance, though they are not closely related. [ 9 ] The word penguin first appears in literature at the end of the 16th century as a synonym for the great auk . [ 10 ] When European explorers discovered what are today known as penguins in the Southern Hemisphere, they noticed their similar appearance to the great auk of the Northern Hemisphere and named them after this bird, although they are not closely related. [ 11 ] The etymology of the word penguin is still debated. The English word is not apparently of French , [ 12 ] Breton [ 13 ] or Spanish [ 14 ] origin (the latter two are attributed to the French word pingouin ), but first appears in English or Dutch. [ 12 ] Some dictionaries suggest a derivation from Welsh pen , 'head' and gwyn , 'white', [ 15 ] including the Oxford English Dictionary , the American Heritage Dictionary , [ 16 ] the Century Dictionary [ 16 ] and Merriam-Webster , [ 17 ] on the basis that the name was originally applied to the great auk, either because it was found on White Head Island ( Welsh : Pen Gwyn ) in Newfoundland, or because it had white circles around its eyes (though the head was black). However, the Welsh word pen can also be used to mean 'front' and, in a maritime context, pen blaen means 'front end or part, bow (of a ship), prow'. [ 18 ] An alternative etymology links the word to Latin pinguis , which means 'fat' or 'oil'. [ 19 ] Support for this etymology can be found in the alternative Germanic word for penguin, fettgans or 'fat-goose', and the related Dutch word vetgans . Adult male penguins are sometimes called cocks , females sometimes called hens ; a group of penguins on land is a waddle , and a group of penguins in the water is a raft . Pinguinus Main article: Great auk Since 1871, the Latin word Pinguinus has been used in scientific classification to name the genus of the great auk ( Pinguinus impennis , meaning "plump or fat without flight feathers "), [ 9 ] which became extinct in the mid-19th century. [ 10 ] As confirmed by a 2004 genetic study, the genus Pinguinus belongs in the family of the auks (Alcidae), within the order of the Charadriiformes . [ 20 ] [ 21 ] [ 22 ] The birds currently known as penguins were discovered later and were so named by sailors because of their physical resemblance to the great auk. Despite this resemblance, however, they are not auks, and are not closely related to the great auk. [ 11 ] [ 9 ] They do not belong in the genus Pinguinus , and are not classified in the same family and order as the great auk. They were classified in 1831 by Charles Lucien Bonaparte in several distinct genera within the family Spheniscidae and order Sphenisciformes . Geography The geographical and temporal pattern of spheniscine evolution corresponds closely to two episodes of global cooling documented in the paleoclimatic record . [ 28 ] The emergence of the Subantarctic lineage at the end of the Bartonian corresponds with the onset of the slow period of cooling that eventually led to the ice ages some 35 million years later. With habitat on the Antarctic coasts declining, by the Priabonian more hospitable conditions for most penguins existed in the Subantarctic regions rather than in Antarctica itself. [ 39 ] Notably, the cold Antarctic Circumpolar Current also started as a continuous circumpolar flow only around 30 mya, on the one hand forcing the Antarctic cooling, and on the other facilitating the eastward expansion of Spheniscus to South America and eventually beyond. [ 28 ] Despite this, there is no fossil evidence to support the idea of crown radiation from the Antarctic continent in the Paleogene, although DNA study favors such a radiation. [ 39 ] Later, an interspersed period of slight warming was ended by the Middle Miocene Climate Transition , a sharp drop in global average temperature from 14 to 12 mya, and similar abrupt cooling events followed at 8 mya and 4 mya; by the end of the Tortonian, the Antarctic ice sheet was already much like today in volume and extent. The emergence of most of today's Subantarctic penguin species almost certainly was caused by this sequence of Neogene climate shifts. Relationship to other bird orders Penguin ancestry beyond Waimanu remains unknown and not well-resolved by molecular or morphological analyses. The latter tend to be confounded by the strong adaptive autapomorphies of the Sphenisciformes; a sometimes perceived fairly close relationship between penguins and grebes is almost certainly an error based on both groups' strong diving adaptations, which are homoplasies . On the other hand, different DNA sequence datasets do not agree in detail with each other either. Humboldt penguins in an aquarium. The penguin is an accomplished swimmer, having flippers instead of wings. What seems clear is that penguins belong to a clade of Neoaves (living birds except for paleognaths and fowl ) that comprises what is sometimes called " higher waterbirds " to distinguish them from the more ancient waterfowl . This group contains such birds as storks , rails , and the seabirds , with the possible exception of the Charadriiformes . [ 40 ] Inside this group, penguin relationships are far less clear. Depending on the analysis and dataset, a close relationship to Ciconiiformes [ 30 ] or to Procellariiformes [ 28 ] has been suggested. Some think the penguin-like plotopterids (usually considered relatives of cormorants and anhingas ) may actually be a sister group of the penguins and those penguins may have ultimately shared a common ancestor with the Pelecaniformes and consequently would have to be included in that order, or that the plotopterids were not as close to other pelecaniforms as generally assumed, which would necessitate splitting the traditional Pelecaniformes into three. [ 41 ] A 2014 analysis of whole genomes of 48 representative bird species has concluded that penguins are the sister group of Procellariiformes, [ 42 ] from which they diverged about 60 million years ago (95% CI, 56.8–62.7). [ 43 ] The distantly related Charadriiform puffins , [ 22 ] which live in the North Pacific and North Atlantic, developed similar characteristics to survive in the Arctic and sub-Arctic environments. Like the penguins, puffins have a white chest, black back and short stubby wings providing excellent swimming ability in icy water. But, unlike penguins, puffins can fly, as flightless birds would not survive alongside land-based predators such as polar bears and foxes; there are no such predators in the Antarctic. Their similarities indicate that similar environments in different parts of the world can result in similar evolutionary developments, i.e. convergent evolution . [ 44 ] Puffins are auks (Alcidae), akin to the aforementioned great auk, which have a greater resemblance to "true" penguins after converging on more features of their anatomy. [ 45 ] Anatomy and physiology Penguin wings have the same general bone structure as flighted birds, but the bones are shorter and stouter to allow them to serve as fins. 1). Humerus 2). Sesamoid Bone 3). Radius 4). Ulna 5). Radial Carpal bone 6). Carpometacarpus 7). Phalanges Taxidermized penguin skin Penguins are superbly adapted to aquatic life. Their wings have evolved to become flippers, useless for flight in the air. In the water, however, penguins are astonishingly agile. Penguins' swimming looks very similar to birds' flight in the air. [ 46 ] Within the smooth plumage a layer of air is preserved, ensuring buoyancy. The air layer also helps insulate the birds in cold waters. On land, penguins use their tails and wings to maintain balance for their upright stance. All penguins are countershaded for camouflage – that is, they have black backs and wings with white fronts. [ 47 ] A predator looking up from below (such as an orca or a leopard seal ) has difficulty distinguishing between a white penguin belly and the reflective water surface. The dark plumage on their backs camouflages them from above. Gentoo penguins are the fastest underwater birds in the world. They are capable of reaching speeds up to 36 km (about 22 miles) per hour while searching for food or escaping from predators. They are also able to dive to depths of 170–200 meters (about 560–660 feet). [ 48 ] The small penguins do not usually dive deep; they catch their prey near the surface in dives that normally last only one or two minutes. Larger penguins can dive deep in case of need. Emperor penguins are the world's deepest-diving birds. They can dive to depths of approximately 550 meters (1,800 feet) while searching for food. [ 49 ] Penguins either waddle on their feet or slide on their bellies across the snow while using their feet to propel and steer themselves, a movement called "tobogganing", which conserves energy while moving quickly. They also jump with both feet together if they want to move more quickly or cross steep or rocky terrain. Penguins have an average sense of hearing for birds; [ 50 ] this is used by parents and chicks to locate one another in crowded colonies . [ 51 ] Their eyes are adapted for underwater vision and are their primary means of locating prey and avoiding predators; in air it has been suggested that they are nearsighted , although research has not supported this hypothesis. [ 52 ] Gentoo penguin swimming underwater at the Nagasaki Penguin Aquarium Penguins have a thick layer of insulating feathers that keeps them warm in water (heat loss in water is much greater than in air). The emperor penguin has a maximum feather density of about nine feathers per square centimeter which is actually much lower than other birds that live in Antarctic environments. However, they have been identified as having at least four different types of feather: in addition to the traditional feather, the emperor has afterfeathers , plumules , and filoplumes . The afterfeathers are downy plumes that attach directly to the main feathers and were once thought to account for the bird's ability to conserve heat when under water; the plumules are small down feathers that attach directly to the skin, and are much more dense in penguins than other birds; lastly the filoplumes are small (less than 1 cm long) naked shafts that end in a splay of fibers— filoplumes were thought to give flying birds a sense of where their plumage was and whether or not it needed preening, so their presence in penguins may seem inconsistent, but penguins also preen extensively. [ 53 ] The emperor penguin has the largest body mass of all penguins, which further reduces relative surface area and heat loss. They also are able to control blood flow to their extremities, reducing the amount of blood that gets cold, but still keeping the extremities from freezing. In the extreme cold of the Antarctic winter, the females are at sea fishing for food, leaving the males to brave the weather by themselves. They often huddle together to keep warm and rotate positions to make sure that each penguin gets a turn in the centre of the heat pack. Calculations of the heat loss and retention ability of marine endotherms [ 54 ] suggest that most extant penguins are too small to survive in such cold environments. [ 55 ] In 2007, Thomas and Fordyce wrote about the "heterothermic loophole" that penguins utilize in order to survive in Antarctica. [ 56 ] All extant penguins, even those that live in warmer climates, have a counter-current heat exchanger called the humeral plexus. The flippers of penguins have at least three branches of the axillary artery, which allows cold blood to be heated by blood that has already been warmed and limits heat loss from the flippers. This system allows penguins to efficiently use their body heat and explains why such small animals can survive in the extreme cold. [ 57 ] They can drink salt water because their supraorbital gland filters excess salt from the bloodstream. [ 58 ] [ 59 ] [ 60 ] The salt is excreted in a concentrated fluid from the nasal passages. An isabelline Adélie penguin on Gourdin Island Around one in 50,000 penguins (of most species) are born with brown rather than black plumage. These are called isabelline penguins. Isabellinism is different from albinism. Isabelline penguins tend to live shorter lives than normal penguins, as they are not well-camouflaged against the deep and are often passed over as mates. Behaviour Duration: 49 seconds. 0:49 Chinstrap penguins in Antarctica Breeding Gentoo penguin watching over a sleeping chick at Brown Bluff Penguins for the most part breed in large colonies, the exceptions being the yellow-eyed and Fiordland species; these colonies may range in size from as few as 100 pairs for gentoo penguins to several hundred thousand in the case of king, macaroni and chinstrap penguins. [ 61 ] Living in colonies results in a high level of social interaction between birds, which has led to a large repertoire of visual as well as vocal displays in all penguin species. [ 62 ] Agonistic displays are those intended to confront or drive off, or alternately appease and avoid conflict with, other individuals. [ 62 ] Penguins form monogamous pairs for a breeding season, though the rate the same pair recouples varies drastically. Most penguins lay two eggs in a clutch, although the two largest species, the emperor and the king penguins , lay only one. [ 63 ] With the exception of the emperor penguin, where the male does it all, all penguins share the incubation duties. [ 64 ] These incubation shifts can last days and even weeks as one member of the pair feeds at sea. Penguins generally only lay one brood; the exception is the little penguin, which can raise two or three broods in a season. [ 65 ] Penguin eggs are smaller than any other bird species when compared proportionally to the weight of the parent birds; at 52 g (2 oz), the little penguin egg is 4.7% of its mothers' weight, and the 450 g (1 lb) emperor penguin egg is 2.3%. [ 63 ] The relatively thick shell forms between 10 and 16% of the weight of a penguin egg, presumably to reduce the effects of dehydration and to minimize the risk of breakage in an adverse nesting environment. [ 66 ] The yolk, too, is large and comprises 22–31% of the egg. Some yolk often remains when a chick is born, and is thought to help sustain the chick if the parents are delayed in returning with food. [ 67 ] When emperor penguin mothers lose a chick, they sometimes attempt to "steal" another mother's chick, usually unsuccessfully as other females in the vicinity assist the defending mother in keeping her chick. [ 68 ] In some species, such as emperor and king penguins, the chicks assemble in large groups called crèches . Distribution and habitat See also: List of Sphenisciformes by population Although almost all penguin species are native to the Southern Hemisphere, they are not found only in cold climates, such as Antarctica . In fact, only a few species of penguin actually live so far south. Several species live in the temperate zone; [ 69 ] [ failed verification ] one, the Galápagos penguin , lives as far north as the Galápagos Islands , but this is only made possible by the cold, rich waters of the Antarctic Humboldt Current that flows around these islands. [ 70 ] Also, though the climate of the Arctic and Antarctic regions is similar, there are no penguins found in the Arctic. [ 71 ] Gálapagos Penguins near Isabela Island Several authors have suggested that penguins are a good example of Bergmann's Rule [ 72 ] [ 73 ] where larger-bodied populations live at higher latitudes than smaller-bodied populations. There is some disagreement about this and several other authors have noted that there are fossil penguin species that contradict this hypothesis and that ocean currents and upwellings are likely to have had a greater effect on species diversity than latitude alone. [ 74 ] [ 75 ] Major populations of penguins are found in Angola , Antarctica , Argentina , Australia , Chile , Namibia , New Zealand , and South Africa . [ 76 ] [ 77 ] Satellite images and photos released in 2018 show the population of 2 million in France 's remote Ile aux Cochons has collapsed, with barely 200,000 remaining, according to a study published in Antarctic Science. [ 78 ]https://community.credspark.com/p/how-to-edit-results-viewTue, 28 Oct 2025 21:07:00 GMTc8da91aa-3925-4d82-b818-e84a8470bffe:cda0f15d-b4b4-4bbc-b95d-d9a921f8bb92Please watch the following video on editing the Results View.https://community.credspark.com/p/todays_newsTue, 28 Oct 2025 20:56:00 GMTc8da91aa-3925-4d82-b818-e84a8470bffe:a9332c81-3594-45fb-b6f9-fe48d21b0ec0In today's news, we have the latest on the government shut down and how it is affecting US businesses. More words go here. In other stories, words words words.https://community.credspark.com/p/credspark_faqsFri, 18 Oct 2024 17:58:00 GMTc8da91aa-3925-4d82-b818-e84a8470bffe:10d0fd4b-3d5e-4790-92f0-ed60c565fc18CredSpark for Verint FAQs Q: What's CredSpark? A: An easy-to-use software tool that allows you to create interactive content, no coding required! Q: Why should I use it in my community? A: Maybe you want to start a conversation with your members, challenge them, help them find something, or just find out what they're thinking--interactive content opens the door to a two-way exchange of information. Q: Is it hard to use CredSpark? A: Nope. Q: How do I get this all set up in Verint? A: You can start here or go here ! Q: What if I'm not a Verint Community user? A: No problem! If you're here because you use CredSpark outside of Verint, you can still explore this community and its resources, and feel free to ask questions/join in the conversation. Q: How do I ask you questions? A: Easy! Just reach out to support@credspark.comhttps://community.credspark.com/f/credtalk/3/i-need-users-to-upload-a-file-and-give-feedback-on-the-fileMon, 05 Aug 2024 18:25:00 GMTc8da91aa-3925-4d82-b818-e84a8470bffe:1881fe64-03ea-458e-8522-fcb4222dafbeemszopinskiWe´re launching a personalized coaching program. As part of this program I need coachees to create videos, share them with me, and I need to share feedback with them. Is there a feature that would facilitate this?https://community.credspark.com/c/e/2Wed, 22 May 2024 14:00:00 GMTc8da91aa-3925-4d82-b818-e84a8470bffe:e3400974-6347-4c9e-851b-09fd6fab26f9adminDid you know that CredSpark is used by some of the top media, events, and publishing companies to keep their audiences engaged? Apply their tips, tricks, and hacks to: Capture learners attention and get them in the front door of learning paths Keep your learners engaged and motivated Generate actionable insightshttps://community.credspark.com/f/credtalk/2/welcome-to-the-credtalk-forumTue, 07 May 2024 23:03:00 GMTc8da91aa-3925-4d82-b818-e84a8470bffe:676a8241-893a-458c-a070-4700a3289b2eadminWelcome to the CredTalk Forum! We're thrilled to have you join our vibrant community of users from diverse industries and backgrounds. Whether you're crafting knowledge assessments, delving into audience insights, or designing interactive games, your contributions are shaping the future of engagement and connection. Let's collaborate, learn from one another, and celebrate our collective achievements – successes and failures alike.https://community.credspark.com/c/1Tue, 07 May 2024 18:24:00 GMTc8da91aa-3925-4d82-b818-e84a8470bffe:b9141a8a-4648-44fb-9a6c-81edcdf9d3d3adminhttps://community.credspark.com/f/credtalkTue, 07 May 2024 18:24:00 GMTc8da91aa-3925-4d82-b818-e84a8470bffe:93b4b626-c94d-4d4a-8624-93c699b66d2ehttps://community.credspark.com/c/e/1Wed, 10 Apr 2024 17:00:00 GMTc8da91aa-3925-4d82-b818-e84a8470bffe:1e9bac82-4016-4419-91da-56e6fc40d5a7adminLooking to get the most out of CredSpark? Casey Cornelius, Head of Content and Client Services, will walk you through best practices and a few advanced features to help you leverage CredSpark to save time, and get better results. Plus, we'll have time to answer your questions, too. Creating engaging interactive content is easier than you think. You'll learn: Quiz best practices When and how to ask for contact information How to put interactions in your Results View Don't miss this opportunity to take your CredSpark game to the next level!https://community.credspark.com/Fri, 05 Apr 2024 20:34:00 GMTc8da91aa-3925-4d82-b818-e84a8470bffe:093a2753-d382-4e39-abc3-84f38109f6f2A community for CredSpark users to share, learn, and come together around building innovative interactive content online.