Interesting facts about penguins. Where do they live, what do they eat and how do penguins sleep? Emperor penguins lay only one egg during the breeding season

Faktrum tells how animals sleep.

Horses

Contrary to popular belief, modern domestic horses do not sleep standing up. Standing, they can only be in a state of some kind of slumber. Such a pastime cannot be called complete sleep. In order to fall into a real, deep sleep, during which both the body and the brain will rest, horses, of course, lie down. Most often on the side.

Photo source: Fresher.ru

However, due to the structural features of the body, its mass, as well as the thinness of the bones, horses can sleep in this state for no more than 3–4 hours. If a horse lies on its side for more than 6 hours, it will develop pulmonary edema.

Dolphins

In dolphins, unlike other mammals, sleep is structured very in an interesting way. When it's time to rest, the dolphin turns off only one hemisphere of the brain, while closing the opposite eye. The other half of the brain at this time monitors the environment, controls breathing, and other basic physiological processes.

During such sleep, dolphins can remain on the surface of the water, sometimes swimming slowly with the current. In captivity, dolphins sometimes sleep at the bottom of the pool, periodically rising to the surface for air.

Giraffes

Perhaps one of the most interesting questions- Is this how giraffes sleep? Indeed, at first glance, with such long neck getting a vacation is quite problematic. But nature has everything thought out. Giraffes sleep with their neck bent so that their head rests on the lower part of their hind limb. The entire installation process takes 15–20 seconds. First, giraffes lower themselves onto their chests and then onto their bellies.

Interestingly, giraffes sleep only for a few minutes at a time. The duration of deep sleep per night does not exceed 20 minutes.

Whales

It was long believed that whales sleep in the same way as dolphins - switching off one hemisphere at a time. But recent research by scientists has shown that this is not the case. It turned out that whales sleep during short periods quick immersion in water. Thus, they do not have a clear division of the day into sleep and wakefulness. Whales gain 10–15 minutes of sleep over the course of several hours.

Penguins

As with horses, there is a myth that penguins sleep standing up. This is, of course, not true, at least not entirely true. Firstly: there are several species of penguins on Earth and many of them sleep differently. For example, gentoo penguins and some others sleep as if they had a pretty good party yesterday. Well, just without hind legs.

And next to them are emperor penguins, which, however, can hardly be called worthwhile. Rather, it is a sitting pose. Penguins stand and walk completely differently.

Hippos

Hippos spend most of their lives in water. They usually sleep either in the shallows with the top of their heads exposed, or completely submerged in the water. In the latter case, hippos reflexively surface every 3–5 minutes to take a breath. And they don't even wake up.

Squirrels

You can often hear that squirrels sleep with their tails wrapped around them. Not that this is not true at all, but rather that it is part of the truth. In fact, squirrels are like many other animals in this regard: they sleep as they lie down. Just like us. Sometimes they wrap themselves in tails, and sometimes they look like penguins returning from a party.

Elephants

Let's start with the fact that there are African and Indian elephants, and they sleep differently. Africans often sleep standing, leaning their side against a tree trunk or clasping it with their trunk. This is due to the fact that African elephants They are afraid of overheating the body from too hot soil. If the ground is not too hot, then they can sleep alive, with their legs tucked under them, or on their sides.

Indian elephants They often sleep lying down, with their hind legs bent and their front legs extended forward and their head resting on them. Elephants sleep lasts about 2–3 hours. The animal can wake up, listen and sniff for danger, and then fall asleep again.

Opossums

Another animal that disproves myths about their own sleep is opossums. Yes, they have a very strong tail, yes, they can hang with it upside down on a tree branch, but they do not sleep in that position. In general, opossums are nocturnal animals; during the day they rest, sleep, and when it gets dark, they go after prey. Opossums sleep a lot, sometimes up to 18–20 hours a day. To do this, they are located on a tree branch, or curled up in a hollow or other shelter.

Swifts

Swifts are known for their records. They are one of the fastest flying birds, and by far the longest flying birds. A swift can fly for up to 4 years. All this time the bird eats, drinks, sleeps and even mates on the fly. A young swift, when it first takes to the air, can fly up to 500 thousand kilometers before landing for the first time.

In order to sleep while sleeping, birds gain a high altitude, up to three thousand meters, and then fly at an angle to the direction of the wind, changing direction of flight every few minutes. Thanks to this rhythmicity, swifts continue to fly back and forth over the same place. But in light winds, as has been noted, swifts fly in circles in their sleep.

Penguins are represented by many species and are quite common on the planet. Their characteristic gait makes them funny creatures that appeal to both children and adults. This interesting family associated with several fascinating facts.

Penguins lost the ability to fly sixty-two million years ago

Initially, these birds could fly, but over time they began to swim more actively and, as a result, lost the ability to rise into the air. The most amazing thing is how long ago penguins began to strive for life in the water. The oldest species discovered during excavations lived sixty million years ago. And by that time they could not fly, although they were not as well adapted to life in water as modern ones. Scientists believe that ancient penguins moved along the surface of the water.

Giant penguins weighing eighty kilograms lived in New Zealand forty million years ago.

When we look at historical facts about penguins, we can find out amazing details about their ancestors. On this moment The largest are emperor penguins. They are more than a meter tall and weigh forty-five kilograms. In New Zealand, traces of ancient penguins that lived here forty million years ago were found - they were taller than one and a half meters and weighed about eighty kilograms! Scientists have not been able to establish whether this was a specific species or whether such dimensions were the result natural factors, because here the birds had no natural enemies and there was an incredible amount of food. Over time, whales began to appear here, which became a danger to penguins - as a result, they became extinct twenty-five million years ago.

Penguins are predators

The harmless appearance of the animal, as if dressed in a tailcoat, attracts children and adults, which is why penguins are real favorites of zoo visitors. But not all people who are touched by a cute creature that funnyly minces with its small paws know that they are dangerous predators who eat exclusively meat. Penguins catch fish and other sea creatures, such as squid and octopus. This diet is caused by the location of distribution - most penguins live in Antarctica, where there are practically no plants. Moreover, they are not only predators, but also food for predators, especially in childhood - they are hunted by seals and killer whales.

Penguins can endure cold temperatures of minus seventy degrees Celsius by congregating close to each other.

Emperor penguins able to withstand the harsh Antarctic climate thanks to adaptation. They have a thick layer of feathers that help reduce heat loss, and penguins can control blood flow to warm certain parts of the body. Most importantly, to survive, they work in groups, huddling together in a dense crowd, huddling together and keeping each other warm. The penguins don't just stand, they constantly change places so that no one has to stand all the time at the edge, where it is coldest, and no one always remains in the center, where it is warmer.

Penguins can dive five hundred meters

The largest penguins in existence today, emperor penguins, are capable of things that are inaccessible to others precisely because of their size. For example, when diving, they are able to dive to a depth of five hundred meters. To compensate for the pressure they have to withstand, their bodies have certain features. For example, they have dense bones - in other birds they are filled with air. This helps minimize barotrauma. During a dive, the pulse is reduced as much as possible to save oxygen, and the emperor penguin's blood has special composition, allowing the body to function longer without breathing.

Penguins can drink salt water

The digestive system of these birds is ideally adapted to life by the sea. Fun fact: They have a gland in their throat that filters salt from their bloodstream. This allows penguins to drink salty seawater if they are thirsty. It could kill a person!

Penguins live in colonies of two hundred thousand birds.

Emperor penguins form groups to survive, but other species prefer to live together. Golden-haired penguins love company more than others - they can live in colonies of several hundred thousand birds. As a result of this habitat, penguins developed unique way communicate with other birds. They dont have complex language, but there is a certain vocal system with the help of which males and females can communicate.

Emperor penguins lay only one egg during the breeding season

During the cold Antarctic months, emperor penguins begin to breed and each female can lay only one egg. This is due to the fact that protecting it from the cold is already difficult, so large quantity the eggs would simply disappear. The emperor penguin is the fifth largest bird on the planet. During incubation, males lose a quarter of their weight. However, only a fifth of all chicks survive the first year of their life.
On average, emperor penguins live up to twenty years, while scientists believe that some can live up to fifty. As a result high mortality young animals average age 80% of the penguins in the population are five or more years old.

Penguins do not live in the northern hemisphere

Penguins can only be found in one hemisphere of the planet. When these birds were first discovered, they were confused with loons. These are northern birds that may be somewhat similar to penguins, but are a completely separate genus. Modern loons can fly, although they do not show brilliant results in this matter. All of them common features with penguins are explained by joint development and survival in similar territories.

Penguins can swim at speeds of up to forty kilometers per hour

The penguin cannot fly, but it swims just fine. Tiny wings turn into powerful engines in water. Usually these birds move no faster than fifteen kilometers per hour, but in case of danger due to an attack by a seal or killer whale, they can accelerate significantly - even up to forty kilometers per hour!

Probably the most amazing birds There are penguins on our planet. Interesting facts about these cute creatures we will introduce you in this article. This is the only bird that swims beautifully, but cannot fly. In addition, the penguin can walk upright. This is a flightless bird belonging to the order Penguinidae.

Habitat

Vast areas, mainly in the cold regions of the Southern Hemisphere, are where penguins live. The largest populations are recorded in Antarctica. In addition, they feel quite comfortable in South Africa and in southern Australia. Almost the entire coastline South America- This is the area where penguins live.

Name

The origin of the name of these birds has three versions. The first explains it by a combination of the words pen - “head” and gwyn - “white”. It once referred to the great auk (now extinct). Since these birds are similar in appearance, the name was transferred to the penguin.

According to the second version, the penguin got its name from English word pinwing, which translates as “hairpin wing”. According to the third version, the name of the bird comes from the Latin pinguis, which means “fat.”

Types of penguins

Do you know how many species of penguins live on our planet? Modern classification these birds are grouped into six genera and nineteen species. We will introduce you to some of them in this article.

Emperor penguin

The largest and heaviest bird: the weight of a male can reach 40 kg, and the body length is about 130 cm. The plumage on the back is black, the belly is white, and on the neck you can see characteristic spots of bright yellow or orange color. Emperor penguins are native to Antarctica.

King Penguin

Outwardly, it is very similar to the imperial one, but is somewhat inferior in size: its body length is about 100 cm, and its weight does not exceed 18 kg. In addition, this species has a different color - the back is covered with dark gray, sometimes almost black feathers, the belly is white, and there are bright orange spots on the sides of the head and on the chest. These birds live in coastal waters Bay of Lusitania, on the islands Tierra del Fuego, Southern and Sandwich, Kerguelen and Crozet, Macquarie and South Georgia, Prince Edward and Heard.

Adelie Penguin

Medium sized bird. Its length does not exceed 75 cm, and its weight is 6 kg. Adele's back is black, her belly is white. A distinctive feature of this species is the white ring around the eyes. These birds live in Antarctica, as well as on the adjacent islands: Orkney and South Shetland.

Northern crested penguin

A species that is currently endangered. This is a small bird, about 55 cm long and weighing 3 kg. The back and wings are gray-black. The abdomen is white. Yellow eyebrows extend into tufts of bright yellow feathers located to the side of the eyes. On the penguin's head there is a black crest, which gives the species its name.

The main part of the population inhabits the islands of Inaccessible and Gough, Tristan da Cunha, which are located in the Atlantic Ocean.

Golden haired penguin

The body length of this penguin varies within 76 cm, weight - just over 5 kg. The color is typical of all penguins, but with one peculiarity: above the eyes there are unusual tufts of golden feathers. Golden-haired penguins settled down southern shores Indian Ocean, Atlantic, slightly less common in the north of Antarctica, as well as on the islands of the Sub-Antarctic.

External features

On land this unusual bird, which cannot fly, looks somewhat awkward due to the structural features of its limbs and body. Penguins have a streamlined body shape with well-developed muscles of the pectoral keel - often it makes up a quarter of the total mass birds.

The penguin's body is plump, slightly laterally compressed, covered with feathers. The head is not too large, it is located on a flexible and movable, but short neck. The beak of these birds is strong and sharp.

Interesting facts about penguins are related to their structure. In the course of evolution and lifestyle, the penguin's wings have changed and turned into flippers: under water, they rotate in the shoulder joint like a screw. The legs are thick and short, with four toes that are connected by swimming membranes.

Unlike most birds, the penguin's legs are noticeably shifted back, which forces the bird to hold its body strictly vertical when on land. A short tail, which consists of twenty hard feathers, helps the penguin maintain balance: the bird leans on it if necessary.

Another interesting fact about penguins is that their skeleton is not made up of hollow tubular bones, which is usually typical for birds. Their bones are more similar in structure to bones marine mammals. For thermal insulation, penguins have a substantial reserve of fat, its layer reaches three centimeters.

The plumage of penguins is thick and dense: short, small feathers cover the bird's body like tiles, protecting it from getting wet in cold water.

Lifestyle

Penguins are underwater looking for food pretty long time, diving three meters deep and covering distances of about thirty kilometers. It's amazing how fast penguins swim - it can reach 10 km per hour. Representatives of some species can dive to depths of up to 130 meters. When penguins don't join mating season and do not nurse their offspring, they move away from the coast to quite long distances (up to 1000 km).

To speed up movement on land, the penguin lies on its belly and quickly slides across the snow or ice, pushing off with its limbs. This method of movement allows birds to reach speeds of up to 6 km/h. IN natural conditions a penguin lives about twenty-five years. In captivity, with proper care, this figure increases to thirty.

What do penguins eat?

During one hunt, a penguin makes from 190 to 900 dives. Exact number depends on climatic conditions, penguin species, food requirements. I wonder what oral apparatus The bird's body is designed on the principle of a pump: it sucks in small prey through its beak. During feeding, on average, birds swim about thirty kilometers and spend almost eighty minutes a day at a depth of more than three meters.

The basis of the penguins' diet is fish. But what do penguins eat (besides fish)? The bird happily eats squid, small octopuses and small shellfish. The cubs feed on semi-digested food, which their parents regurgitate from the stomach.

How do penguins sleep?

The answer to this question is of interest to many of our readers. Penguins sleep standing up, maintaining their body temperature during sleep. Interesting facts about penguins are also associated with this condition of birds. The time they spend sleeping directly depends on the air temperature - the lower the temperature, the shorter the sleep. Birds sleep longer during molting: during this period they eat little, and additional sleep allows them to reduce energy expenditure. In addition, penguins sleep while hatching eggs.

It turns out that not all penguins are cute and harmless creatures. For example, rock penguins are endowed with a rather aggressive disposition. They can attack any object they don't like.

Penguins don't need it fresh water- they drink sea water because they have special glands that filter out the salt.

During the mating season, expressing his tender feelings, the male spectacled penguin strokes his chosen one on the head with his wing.

Penguins' feet do not get cold because they have a minimal number of nerve endings.

Southern Hemisphere - an exceptional habitat for all 17 species of the penguin family.

Most big representative penguins- Emperor penguin, whose height reaches 120 cm, and the smallest is the small, or blue penguin. His height on average is only 33 cm.

The fastest penguin- subantarctic, or gentoo penguin. Underwater it can reach speeds of up to 36 km/h.

Color, as usual in the animal world, helps penguins to imitate environment: the black back merges with the dark and gloomy seabed, and the white belly merges with the light surface of the water.

Penguin Ancestors survived mass extinction dinosaurs - this is evidenced by the fossilized remains of the earliest relative of the penguin, whose age, according to scientists, is about 60 million years.

Special supraorbital gland, which penguins have, filters out salt water from the bloodstream. The fact is that when hunting for fish, penguins swallow a lot sea ​​water. They use this gland to secrete salt water through their beaks or by sneezing.

Penguins molt, unlike other birds, large-scale. If other birds shed several feathers, then penguins do not waste time on trifles - they get rid of huge amount feathers at a time, which is why they cannot swim and are forced to remain on land (read - without food) until new feathers grow.

In the colonies, whose number can reach thousands of birds, almost all penguins are raised - with the exception of literally a few species.

Penguins are monogamous and monogamous. It depends on the specific type, but most penguins mate for life.

Nest, which penguins create, as a rule, also becomes permanent: in most cases, penguins nest in the place where they themselves were born.

Emperor penguins, unlike other brethren, they do not make nests from pebbles and feathers. The female emperor penguin lays only one egg, which is incubated in the brood pouch, a special fold on the underside of the belly. First, the female incubates the egg, then, rolling it over, gives it to the male (who also has a brood pouch).

plump males have an advantage over slender penguins - they have enough fat to survive several weeks without food, incubating the egg while the female goes to feed.

About the chicks Both parents, male and female, take care of them. It usually takes several months for a baby to become strong enough to hunt independently.

Kidnapping This is not news for emperor penguins: if a female’s calf dies, she can kidnap a stranger.

Excellent hearing Almost all species of penguins can boast, despite the lack of visible ears. They can easily recognize their comrades from hundreds of other penguins in a populous colony by their voices.

"Strange Geese"- this is what Antonio Pigafetta called the penguins, who traveled with Magellan in 1520 and was the first person to tell the world about the mysterious birds.

In 1487, on board Vasco da Gama's ship Among the entries in the anonymous diary there is a description of flightless birds in the area of ​​the Cape of Good Hope. Perhaps there was also talk about penguins.

No fear Penguins don’t feel bad in front of people, because they are not used to danger on earth. Don't be surprised when you hear stories of people petting or hand-feeding penguins.

The air in the layers of feathers is the tool that protects penguins from heat loss, especially when swimming (in very, very cold water).

The word "penguin" has been used since the 16th century to refer to the Great Auk (Latin: Pinguinus impennis), an extinct species that once lived among eastern shores Canada. When explorers traveled to the Southern Hemisphere and encountered the great auk-like black and white birds, they dubbed them penguins.

If you are interested in learning how different animals manage to sleep lying down, standing, afloat or even on the fly, we recommend that you read Interesting Facts about the sleep of 10 different animals.

Horses
Contrary to popular belief, modern domestic horses do not sleep standing up. Standing, they can only be in a state of some kind of slumber. Such a pastime cannot be called complete sleep. In order to fall into a real, deep sleep, during which both the body and the brain will rest, horses, of course, lie down. Most often on the side. However, due to the structural features of the body, its mass, as well as the thinness of the bones, horses can sleep in this state for no more than 3-4 hours. If a horse lies on its side for more than 6 hours, it will develop pulmonary edema.

Dolphins
Dolphins, unlike other mammals, sleep in a very interesting way. When it's time to rest, the dolphin turns off only one hemisphere of the brain, while closing the opposite eye. The other half of the brain at this time monitors the environment, controls breathing, and other basic physiological processes. During such sleep, dolphins can remain on the surface of the water, sometimes swimming slowly with the current. In captivity, dolphins sometimes sleep at the bottom of the pool, periodically rising to the surface for air.

Giraffes
Perhaps one of the most interesting questions is how do giraffes sleep? Indeed, at first glance, with such a long neck, it is quite problematic to rest. But nature has everything thought out. Giraffes sleep with their neck bent so that their head is on the lower part of their hind limb. The entire installation process takes 15-20 seconds. First, giraffes lower themselves onto their chests and then onto their bellies. Interestingly, giraffes sleep only for a few minutes at a time. The duration of deep sleep per night does not exceed 20 minutes.

Whales
For a long time it was believed that whales sleep the same way as dolphins - switching off one hemisphere at a time. But recent research by scientists has shown that this is not the case. It turned out that whales sleep during short periods of rapid immersion in water. Thus, they do not have a clear division of the day into sleep and wakefulness. Whales gain 10-15 minutes of sleep over the course of several hours.

Penguins
As with horses, there is a myth that penguins sleep standing up. This is certainly not true, at least not entirely true. Firstly: there are several species of penguins on Earth and many of them sleep differently. For example, gentoo penguins and some others sleep as if they had a pretty good party yesterday. Well, just without hind legs. But the emperor penguins, which, however, are also difficult to call worthwhile. It's more of a sitting pose. Penguins stand and walk completely differently.

Hippos
Hippos spend most of their lives in water. They usually sleep either in the shallows with the top of their heads exposed, or completely submerged in the water. In the latter case, hippos reflexively float to the surface every 3-5 minutes to take a breath. And they don't even wake up.

Squirrels
You can often hear that squirrels sleep with their tails wrapped around them. Not that this is not true at all, but rather that it is part of the truth. In fact, squirrels are like many other animals in this regard: they sleep as they lie down. Just like us. Sometimes they wrap themselves in tails, and sometimes they look like penguins returning from a party.

Elephants
Let's start with the fact that there are African and Indian elephants and they sleep differently. Africans often sleep standing, leaning their side against a tree trunk, or clasping it with their trunk. This is due to the fact that African elephants are afraid of overheating their bodies from too hot soil. If the ground is not too hot, then they can sleep on their stomachs, with their legs tucked under them, or on their sides. Indian elephants often sleep lying down, with their hind legs bent and their front legs extended forward and their head resting on them. Elephants sleep lasts about 2-3 hours. The animal can wake up, listen and sniff for danger, and then fall asleep again.

Opossums
Another animal that disproves myths about their own sleep is opossums. Yes, they have a very strong tail, yes, they can hang with it upside down on a tree branch, but they do not sleep in that position. In general, opossums are nocturnal animals; during the day they rest, sleep, and when it gets dark, they go after prey. Opossums sleep a lot, sometimes up to 18-20 hours a day. To do this, they are located on a tree branch, or curled up in a hollow or other shelter.

Swifts
In general, swifts are known for their records. They are one of the fastest flying birds, and by far the longest flying birds. A swift can fly for up to 4 years. All this time the bird eats, drinks, sleeps and even mates on the fly. A young swift, when it first takes to the air, can fly up to 500 thousand kilometers before landing for the first time. In order to sleep while sleeping, birds gain a high altitude, up to three thousand meters, and then fly at an angle to the direction of the wind, changing direction of flight every few minutes. Thanks to this rhythmicity, swifts continue to fly back and forth over the same place. But in light winds, as has been noted, swifts fly in circles in their sleep.