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Animalia Chordata Aves Sphenisciformes Spheniscidae Aptenodytes (Penguins)

What did the name "penguin" from?

When explorers first saw penguins in the Southern Hemisphere they could see a close resemblance between them and the Great Auk and so naturally called them penguins. But Great Auks and the Penguins are not related in any way - they just look alike.

But that does not explain why the Great Auk was known as a penguin, probably the best explanation is from the Welsh "Pengwen" meaning white headed.

What is a penguin?

A penguin is a flightless bird that mostly live in the coolest part on earth--the Antarctica*. They walk slowly on land, and often slide along on their fronts like tobaggans.

*There are exceptions. The yellow-eyed penguins live in New Zealand, and the Galapagos penguins live on the hot Galapagos Islands, off the western coast of South America.

 
   
 

Adult Emperor penguins

Young Emperor penguins

  1. Beak: long, pointed bill for catching fish

  2. Body: It is black on the back and white underneath

  3. flipper: stiff, flat flippers for swimming

  4. leg: short, strong legs set far back on the body

  5. foot: webbed foot with sharp claws

 

There are no penguins in the north. However, there are some birds such as puffins and guillemots look rather like penguins because they have a similar lifestyle. They belong to the auk family. Both auks and penguins have small wings which they use to swim underwater as they chase prey. The difference is that auks can fly with their wings while penguins cannot.

puffin

Don't think that the cutie-looked penguins are mild. In fact, they are aggressive. Sometimes the lonely penguins may fight with each other so as to "win" a baby penguin as their son. However, it may accidentally hurt the little baby penguin during the fight and finally make it die.
 

THE WORLD'S MOST AGGRESSIVE PENGUIN

Rockhoppers are the most aggressive of all penguins. They often jump feet-first into the water, unlike other penguins, which prefer to walk or dive. Rockhoppers are the smallest of the crested penguins, with red eyes and a drooping yellow crest.

They live on islands around Antarctica in the Indian and Atlanic Oceans.

 

THE WORLD'S LEAST AGGRESSIVE PENGUIN

The gentoo penguins, having large white marks on top of their heads, are timid and unagressive. They are slightly larger than Adelies and Chinstraps, standing up to 90cm tall and weighing 6kg. They mostly live on the Antarctic peninsula and subantarctic islands.
 

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