Why does Antarctica become an ideal home 。。。。。。for penguins?

There are a total of 18 species of penguins in the world, all of which are distributed in the Southern Hemisphere; There are about 8 species in the Antarctic and sub-Antarctic regions, of which 2 species breed on the coast of the Antarctic continent. But there are also penguins in Cape Town, a tourist city in South Africa, on the hot African continent.

First of all, it's important to understand that not all penguins like Antarctica.

Penguins in Antarctica are still the result of natural selection, just as there are polar bears in the Arctic Circle.

Antarctic penguins themselves have their own unique structure: penguin feathers are three to four times denser than birds of the same size, and their role is to regulate body temperature. Although penguins have almost the same feet as other flying birds, their bones are stiff and relatively short and flat.

This feature is combined with short wings like oars, allowing penguins to fly underwater. The salt glands in both eyes excrete excess salt. Penguins' eyes have flat corneas, so they can see underwater and on the surface.

The eyes can transmit images to the brain to create a telephoto set, which can produce telephotometric effects. Penguins are one of the oldest migratory birds, and they probably settled in Antarctica before they even put on ice armor. Although the Antarctic is extremely cold, penguins have been tempered by tens of millions of years of snowstorms, and their feathers have become overlapping and densely scaled.

This special feather coat is not only difficult to penetrate by seawater, but the temperature is nearly 100 below zero, and it is not easy to break through its thermal insulation defense. There are no continents in the Arctic, but the Antarctic has a lot of land, wide seas, and abundant marine plankton is abundant food for penguins**. Penguins have barbs on their tongues and palates to adapt to eating food such as fish and shrimp.

These special structures allow penguins to adapt to the Antarctic environment.

Because the ancestors of penguins took a fancy to Antarctica.

Penguins know that sooner or later the Arctic is going to melt.

Antarctica is the coldest place on earth, but penguins are not afraid of the cold of Antarctica and choose to settle in Antarctica, do you know why?

Many penguins live in Antarctica because of their special body structure. Penguin's feathers are evenly and densely attached to the surface of their bodies to keep them warm. The fat layer on their body also has a warming effect.

This makes them unable to tolerate the warm waters of lower latitudes and can only live in cold regions at high latitudes. There are many penguins scattered on the Antarctic continent. And the warm water at the lower latitudes acts as a natural barrier, preventing these penguins from moving north.

Penguins are an animal that is mainly found in the southern hemisphere. In terms of specific distribution, there are many penguins in Antarctica, and there are many penguins here, and hundreds of penguins often gather together. Of course, penguins are not only found in Antarctica, but also in other latitudes in the Southern Hemisphere.

There are different species of penguins, and the specific distribution areas of different species are different. For example, the little blue penguin breed lives in coastal areas of countries such as Australia and New Zealand. In addition, there used to be a species of penguin in the Arctic, but it is now extinct, and there are no penguins in the Arctic today.

As mentioned above, there are many penguins that live in the Antarctic region, and there are many varieties and numbers. Although some live in the middle or lower latitudes, the number and species of penguins are not as large as those in higher latitudes. This is because of the peculiar body structure of penguins, which makes them choose high latitudes rather than low latitudes.

Penguins' feathers are evenly and densely attached to the surface of their bodies, like fish scales, and the warmth of their subcutaneous fat layer makes them unable to tolerate the warm waters of the tropics, but only in the high latitudes.

Since penguins do not like the warm water and warm climate at low latitudes, most of them stay in high latitudes and do not continue north. The warm currents at low latitudes act as a natural barrier to the northward movement of penguins, so there are almost no penguins in the Northern Hemisphere.

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Analysis: Penguins are marine birds, although they also sometimes inhabit land, ice sheets, and sea ice. Penguins spend about half of their life in the sea and half on land.

Penguins can't fly and are good swimmers. When walking on land, he moves awkwardly, with the soles of his feet on the ground, his body standing upright, and his tail and wings for balance. In case of emergency, it can quickly lie down, stretch its wings, and crawl forward on the ice and snow; Sometimes, you can glide quickly on snowy cliffs and slopes, using your tail and wings to get your bearings.

Penguins swim at an astonishing speed, with adult penguins swimming at speeds of 20 to 30 kilometers per hour, which is faster than the speed of a 10,000-ton ship and can even surpass the fastest whaling ship. The penguin's diving skills are comparable to those of world diving champions, as they can jump more than 2 meters above the surface of the water and jump from icebergs or ice to jump into the water and dive to the bottom. Therefore, penguins are excellent swimmers, divers and divers.

Penguins feed on marine zooplankton, mainly Antarctic krill, and sometimes some carp, squid, and small fish.

Penguins have a good appetite and each penguin eats an average kilogram of food per day, mainly Antarctic krill. Thus, penguins play an important role in the Southern Ocean food chain as predators. Penguins prey on about 33.17 million tonnes of krill in Antarctica, accounting for 90 percent of the total consumption of Antarctic birds and half of the krill preyed on by whales.

Penguins' habitat varies depending on the species and distribution area, with emperor penguins preferring to roost on ice shelves and sea ice; Adélie penguins and Kintu penguins can live on both sea ice and outcrops in ice-free areas; Penguins in the sub-Antarctic prefer to roost on rocks in ice-free areas and often build their nests with rocks.

Penguins like to live in groups, with hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands, and even more than 10,200,000 penguins. On the ice shelves of the Antarctic continent, or on the icebergs and ice floes of the Southern Ocean, one can see flocks of penguins congregating. Sometimes, they line up in neat formations, facing one direction, like a well-trained guard of honour in Ketan, waiting and welcoming visitors from afar; Sometimes they line up in squares with equal distances and equal intervals, like athletes performing in group gymnastics, and the formation is very neat and spectacular.

Penguins have a simple, generous temperament, and are very cute. Although the appearance of Qichunna's noisy goose is sanctimonious, it seems a little arrogant, and even domineering, but when people get close to them, they do not look at people and run away, sometimes they seem to be indifferent, sometimes they seem to be ashamed to answer, they don't know what to do, and sometimes they look around, turn their heads and ears, and chirp. That kind of honest and somewhat silly demeanor really makes people laugh, perhaps, they rarely see people, it is a kind of curiosity.

Antarctica's warm waters are infused with a stream of cold water from the north, which not only changes the temperature but also the composition of the seawater, allowing penguins to get enough food here. In addition, due to their physiological characteristics, penguins must stay in the melted waters of Antarctica, or in the colder waters of the deep sea, and the warm equatorial airflow and higher temperatures form a physical barrier that prevents penguins from moving towards the North Pole, so penguins can only live in Antarctica. <

Antarctica's warm waters are infused with a stream of cold water from the north, which not only changes the temperature but also the composition of the seawater, allowing penguins to get enough food here. In addition, due to the nature of penguins, they must stay in the melting waters of Antarctica, or in the colder waters of the deep sea, and the warm equatorial air currents and higher temperatures form a physical barrier, so penguins can only live in the Antarctic.

Penguins don't really like hot weather, they are only happy in cold climates. So, in the icy ocean off the coast of Antarctica, far away, there are the largest number of penguins living there. But penguins don't live only in Antarctica.

There are also penguins in Cape Town, a tourist city in South Africa, on the hot African continent. Among them, the Hambold penguins, Magellanic penguins and black-footed penguins of the genus Ringed Penguins are distributed in temperate regions with lower latitudes, while the distribution of Galapagos penguins is closer to the equator. There are only two types of penguins, emperor and Adélie penguins, that live completely in the polar regions.

At minus 25 degrees in Canada, the king penguin moves indoors.

Mark, PR manager at the Calgary Zoo in Canada's province of Alberta, explains that the zoo's king penguins are not as accustomed to sub-zero temperatures as their close relatives, emperor penguins.

King penguins are characterized by bright orange feathers on the sides of their heads and necks and are commonly found in the subantarctic regions of Chile and Argentina, as well as temperate regions such as the Falklands, Macquarie, and Sandwich Islands.

Although the cold snap forced the penguins not to "go out", it did not dampen the interest of visitors to the zoo. Mark said: "The people of Calgary are hard-working.

As long as they have a cup of hot chocolate and a warm fire, they'll still be out enjoying the zoo light show. The number of visitors we visited was the same as last year. However, she pointed out that some events have also been moved indoors due to weather conditions.

Concern penguins are homeotherms, and there are only two types of homeotherms: birds and mammals. The penguin is oviparous and not lactating (the male penguin is responsible for hatching and nurturing), so it is not a mammal, only a bird.

Penguins don't live only in Antarctica. Penguins are found in Africa, Australia, New Zealand, and South America. Penguins have never been endemic to Antarctica.

Penguins from Africa, Australia, New Zealand live in temperate regions, and there is a tropical penguin species in the Galapagos Islands of South America that lives near the equator.

Penguins don't like hot weather, they have a thick stuff of their own that can be hot.

Because only the climate of Antarctica is suitable for its survival.

Geographic isolation leads to reproductive isolation.