The signature Species of the Southern Hemisphere (Antarctica) - the mascot if you will - is the penguin. There are not one and no fewer than seventeen species of penguins. Penguins are flightless birds in which several factors are contributing to the reduction of the penguin population. These contributing factors are both man-made and naturally occurring. “The origin of the word “penguin” has been the subject of debate for a long period of time. Researchers and historians’ theories range from reference to the amount of fat (penguigo in Spanish and pinguis in Latin) penguins possess to the claim that the word was derived from two Welsh words meaning ‘white head’.” (Sparks and Soper, 1987) Penguins are comical and funny birds. Blue/black on the upper half of their body and white on the lower half, they look as though they are all dressed up for a formal dinner or show but have no place to go! Penguins are flightless birds, which have adapted to living in the cooler waters of the Southern Hemisphere. They generally live on islands and remote continental regions that are free of land predators. Their inability to fly has been detrimental to their survival on land. Some species of penguins spend as much as 75% of their lives in the ocean, yet they all breed on land or sea ice attached to land. The seventeen species found today are thought to have evolved from flying birds more than forty million years ago. To date, the discovery of all penguin fossil fragments has been limited to the Southern Hemisphere. “Records show that prehistoric penguins were found within the range of present-day penguins.” (Sparks and Soper, 1987) All penguins have a very similar torpedo-shaped body form, which is conducive for swimmin... ... middle of paper ... ...e of these animals is complex and difficult. The need for protecting marine habitats for all kinds of marine life has become serious. We have the ability to cause the extinction of far too many creatures. As of December 4, 1998, a number of conservation groups gathered and formulated a report on the penguin population. They believe that 9 penguin species should have been endangered or were close to being endangered, and 2 more species close to being threatened. Previously, only 5 of the total seventeen penguin species were considered threatened. Based on the above-referenced conservation groups’ statistics, more than 50% of penguin species may be close to endangered. If we do not take an active stand on the protection of these amazing birds, we stand a chance of creating yet another “dinosaur,” available to our children only through history and science books.
Every day many species are slowly becoming either endangered or extinct and recently an endangered bird species called piping plovers, started nesting on Revere Beach. What would seem as a miraculous discovery, many are averse to their new inhabitants on the beach. Many Revere residents are complaining because the piping plovers now occupy parts of “their” beach. But in the article “Revere Beach should welcome the piping plover” The Editorial Board believes that the presence of the piping plover could be greatly beneficial to the city of Revere and I certainly agree. What led me to select this particular article is my concern for the many endangered species in the world like the piping plover. Human hands have led many species to become endangered
Crabeater seals are a smaller species of pack-ice seals that feed primarily on Antarctic krill (Siniff, et al., 2008). This means any environmental changes that will affect the availability of Antarctic krill will probably have an impact on crabeater seals. This (along with changes to ice floes which significantly impact the crabeater seal’s pupping and protection behaviours) mean that it is likely that this species of seal will experiences a decline in abundance as the Antarctic continues to be effected by climate change (Siniff, et al.,
For this evolution project, I choose to research Penguins. The classification for this animal is as follows: K Neornithes, P Palaeognathae, C Neognathae, O Pelecaniformes, F Procellariformes, G Graviidae, S Spheniscidae. The first fossil penguin that was found, is today being held in the British Museum of Natural History. It was reportedly found by an anonymous Maori in New Zealand in 1859 and was named Palaeeudyptes Antarcticus despite the fact that the species was located far away from Antarctica. Since that discovery many more fossils were found and were dated back to the Miocene era and three others from the Pliocene era. Several fossils were dated to the Late Pliocene era and others from the Recent era. The earliest avian fossil found in the southern hemisphere is said to have existed in the Eocene age about 38-54 million years ago. There is evidence that at least three of the modern penguins (Aptenodytes, Spheniscus and Pygoscelis) went extinct within the last 4-5 million years. The remainder of the penguins are from 5-40 million years ago, dating back to the time currently recorded, when penguins evolved from other modern birds. Research suggests that the tallest of these penguins were about 6 feet tall. Penguins did originate from an ancestor that flew some 40 million years ago. The common ancestor is assumed to have been somewhat similar to a modern-day diving petrel or auk in appearance and behavior.
The eradication of species numbers average at a toll close to one hundred percent of earths total living creatures. “It is the Earth's most severe known extinction event, with up to 96% of all marine species and 70% of terrestrial vertebrate species becoming extinct” (Sahney, and Benton 759). Not only where marine and terrestrial species effected but this catastrophic event is the only recogni...
These penguins lived after the Castastrophic event “Cretaceuous” that demolished the dinosaurs and many other species. Based on the DNA analyses and avaiable evidence of modern birds, we think the modern bird- lineages, including penguins, some how managed to survive through the Cretaceuous. Also it’s not shocking these fossils were found in New Zeland. The South Pacific and Southern oceans were free of predatory mammals, had abundant food, and had space for Penguins to breed. But the Southern Pacific is not the only area where Penguins inhabit. Many of modern penguins “Aptrenodytes” are located in the Antarctic. Recenelty it was discovered that there was a over looked feature on the surface of the fossil penguins flipper bone. These grooves were easily missed because the look was similar to tendons and muscles in the same area. It was discovered that these grooves were blood vessels that make up a counter current heat exchanger called “humeral arterial plexus” which allows penguins to limit the heat loss through the flippers. Also it helped Penguins maintain their core body temperature in cold water allowing them to survive long journeys in the cold waters. Although Penguins have luckily been able develop these traits to survive the dramatic shifts in climate, the world population can not mistake their success as resilience towards global warming.
Stokstad, Erik. “Tiny Feathered Dino Is Most Birdlike Yet.” Science Magazine. 290.5498. (8 Dec 2000). 1871-1872.
While Mr. Popper’s Penguins is a movie that mostly focuses on the balance between family and professional life, there are many relations between this movie and residential property management. Throughout this essay I will consider the information we have learned within our course content and relate it back to the happenings within Mr. Popper’s Penguins. I will also evaluate what could or should have been done to improve certain situations. As someone who would like to pursue a career in residential property management, I find that it is not only entertaining, but also beneficial to look for ways to be a better member of the RPM community within everyday life, such as movies like this one that feature characteristics of RPM.
Lions have relatively short-legged, long, muscular bodies and large heads. The male grows on average to 1.7 to 2.5 m (5.6 to 8.2 ft) long, not including the tail, which is 90 to 105 cm (36 to 41 in) in length. It stands 1.23 m (4 ft) high at the shoulder, and it weighs 150 to 250 kg (330 to 550 lb). The mane, which covers the head and neck, sometimes extends to the shoulders and belly. The mane will vary in color and length; well-fed, healthy lions have longer, fuller manes. Females are smaller but equally muscular. Lions vary in color from golden to brown. The mane of a male lion will vary from black to yellow. Both sexes have retractable claws to keep them sharp when they are needed. Lions have wide powerful jaws. The lions roar, which can be heard by humans up to 9 (5.6 miles) kilometers away, is usually uttered before the animals hunt in the evening, after a successful hunt, and again in the early morning.
After watching March of the Penguins I was browsing the internet while I was trying to figure out which direction to take the essay in, because there were too many possibilities for the topic. Soon I found myself watching Monty Python, when the perfect sketch to start this paper on comes on. A newspaper reporter comes on saying "Penguins, yes penguins what relevance do penguins have with the furtherance of medical science? Well strangely enough quite a lot" He moves into a joke about research not being accidental. Then he picks up of the penguins "Nevertheless scientists believe that these penguins, these comic flightless web-footed little b@$#ards are un-wittingly helping man to fathom the uncharted depths of the human mind." The news cast flips to the scientist who introduces himself then states "...having been working on the theory postulated by the late Dr. Kramer that the penguin in intrinsically more intelligent than the human being." From there a multitude of science spoofs lead to the confirmation of this theory of penguins being smarter, even though it is clearly pointed out that the penguin's brain is smaller than of a human being. This causes the penguins to rise up and take over the roles of humans. After careful consideration I decided to discuss this clip as there really is no better way to introduce how animals are used in film as entertainment. Whether it is a crazy Monty Python sketch or the heartwarming love story that is March of the Penguins both were created for many reasons, but the most influential was the desire to earn money. For now just keep Monty Python on the back burner it will have significance later, lets shift to dealing with the questions being posed about March of the Penguins. How did March o...
One of the greatest discoveries of mankind began in 1835 with Darwin’s journey on the H.M.S. Beagle. During his journey, Darwin made stops on the Galapagos Islands near Ecuador. On these islands, he found numerous birds, which he assumed to be finches. The interesting is that all of these finches appeared extremely similar, yet somehow they demonstrated variations in their beaks. He soon discovered that these variations were due to the availability of different food sources that were present on different islands that these finches inhabited. For example, finches with longer, bigger beaks crushed seeds on ground while finches with smaller bills fed on insects and small fruits. Being the brilliant man that Charles Darwin was, he quickly saw the correlation between available resources and these finches. As a result, he collected various specimen to be studied by ornithologist John Gould, who concluded that though the specimen were closely related, they cannot be qualified as the same species anymore (Raven, 2011, p.418).
middle of paper ... ... The Web. 13 Mar. 2014. The 'Standard' of the 'Standard'. Dinosaurs: Climate Change and Biodiversity."
Peregrine falcons are found in every single part of the world except Antarctica. They were
My impulse is fed by an irrepressible necessity to get away from the beige and brick-depressing walls of a hotel. Once I fled from this hotel, I immediately drew on my animal lover’s spirit and rushed to the zoo for the first time. After fifty-five minutes, I found myself at the zoo entrance, pushing impetuously a decaying handle of a heavy and worn glass door. Once I set it aside, I let my feet take unhurried and dubitative steps toward the exhibition of oceanic birds that I love, Penguins.
Lotze, Heike K., Marta Coll, Anna M. Magera, Christine Ward-Paige, and Laura Airoldi. "Recovery of Marine Animal Populations and Ecosystems." Trends in Ecology & Evolution 26.11 (2011): 595-605. Print.
The student writing the essay, Evan, provided a lot of information about penguins, however, he did not display these details in an organized way. Evan does provide an acceptable introduction. He informs us that he will be teaching us about penguins and includes a little background knowledge. These small