Penguin

Penguin
Gentoo penguin Pygoscelis papua
Scientific classification
Kingdom Information
Domain	Eukaryota
Kingdom	Animalia
Subkingdom	Bilateria
Phylum Information
Superphylum	Deuterostomia
Phylum	Chordata
Sub-phylum	Vertebrata
Infraphylum	Gnathostomata
Class Information
Superclass	Tetrapoda
Class	Aves
Sub-class	Neornithes
Infra-class	Neognathae
Order Information
Order	Spheniciformes
Family Information
Family	Spheniscidae
Genus Information
Genera	Aptenodytes Eudyptes Eudyptula Megadyptes Pygoscelis Spheniscus
Population statistics

Penguins are 21 species of flightless birds inhabiting the cold waters of the Southern Hemisphere, the most highly-specialized of any aquatic bird.

Entymology

Penguins were discovered with the great explorations of the 16th century, as European sailors pushed southward into the Atlantic Ocean. The first species of penguin they may have encountered was the gentoo penguin (Pygoscelis papua), which inhabits Patagonia, the Falkland Islands and South Georgia. The similarity in shape, habits, and coloration to a bird they had already known as the penguin - the extinct great auk (Pinguinus impennis) - was striking, hence the transfer of the name. The word is possibly based upon the Welsh pen gwyn, referring to the white eye patch on the head of the auk; or upon pin-wing, in reference to both bird's rudimentary wings.

Description

Penguins are bulky birds in relation to their size. Depending on the species, they are between 16 and 48 inches in length. When standing, they have a fully-erect posture; when moving about, they either walk in a comically-awkward gait or they "toboggan", i.e. they slide on their bellies when on the ice, using feet and wings to push them along. While at sea, however, penguins use their wings to move about effortlessly, swimming in excess of twenty knots.

Coloration is similar to not just the great auk, but to orcas and several species of shark, in that they are dark above, and white below; the pattern is camouflage, making them disappear in the dark depths of the sea when viewed from above, or blend in with the light patterns of the surface when viewed from below.

Phylogeny

• Family Spheniscidae

Subfamily Spheniscinae

Genus Aptenodytes

Emperor penguin, Aptenodytes forsteri

King penguin, Aptenodytes patagonicus

Genus Eudyptes

Chatham penguin, Eudyptes chathamensis (extinct)

Eastern rockhopper penguin, Eudyptes filholi

Erect-crested penguin, Eudyptes sclateri

Fiordland crested penguin, Eudyptes pachyrynchus

Macaroni penguin, Eudyptes chrysolophus

Northern rockhopper penguin, Eudyptes moseleyi

Royal penguin, Eudyptes schlegeli

Snares crested penguin, Eudyptes robustus

Western rockhopper penguin, Eudyptes chrysocome

Genus Eudyptula

Little penguin, Eudyptula minor

Genus Megadyptes

Waitaha penguin, Megadyptes waitaha (extinct)

Yellow-eyed penguin, Megadyptes antipodes

Genus Pygoscelis

Adelie penguin, Pygoscelis adeliae

Chinstrap penguin, Pygoscelis antarctica

Gentoo penguin, Pygoscelis papua

Genus Spheniscus

African penguin, Spheniscus demersus

Galapagos penguin, Spheniscus mendiculus

Humboldt penguin, Spheniscus humboldti

Magellanic penguin, Spheniscus magellanicus