In one of the most often inhospitable environments, with 98% of the land covered in ice, winds ranging from 8 kilometers an hour to 64 kilometers an hour, fluctuating climates that potentially reach incredibly cold temperatures down to -89 degrees Celsius, continuous daylight during summer, and storms that arrive rapidly in which potentially cause incredibly contrasting weather patterns within relatively short distances, lives the Emperor Penguin. Consequently, the Emperor Penguin has many phenomenal and useful adaptations that ensure the penguin is able to sustain life in such a challenging and unfavorable environment.
The Emperor Penguin can only be found in Antarctica. It is essential for penguins in general to generate and retain a constant …show more content…
Because majority of the Emperors coloring are black, the penguin is able to absorb all of the wavelengths of light, while reflecting none. This aspect consequently means that the Emperor is able to efficiently absorb heat and light from the sun and warm its body up relatively fast. Another favorable aspect of the Emperor Penguins development is that approximately 30% of a penguin's overall body mass can potentially be a well defined layer of blubber which consequently improves the thermal insulation of the penguin whilst swimming as well as stores excess energy and heat. Although, on it’s own the layer of blubber is not sufficient enough to ensure the penguins body temperature remains constant and stable. Therefore the penguin needs a varying combination of adaptations to ensure thermoregulation. One of these furthermore adaptations is the penguins size. The Emperor Penguin is the largest and tallest of all living penguin species by considerable margins. It is twice the size of the next largest penguin, the King. Both the female and male Emperor …show more content…
The Emperor Penguin also has a relatively complex and advantageous respiratory and circulatory heat exchange system. This heat exchange system allows up to 80% of lost heat in the penguin’s exhale to be reclaimed within the nasal passages, allowing the penguin to regulate it’s internal temperature without losing an excessive amount of heat. Allowing the penguin to maintain and preserve heat. Blood circulating throughout the flippers and legs of the penguin, transfers the heat to blood returning back to the heart. Therefore, this counter-current exchange of heat ensures that heat remains within the body. Due to the incredibly harsh conditions of the Antarctic the Emperor Penguin has also developed many social, behavioral adaptations, such as huddling together during the winter to maximize each penguins individual heat, which furthermore benefits the entire mass of the group. The reason that huddling closely together maintains the relative heat is because the overall rate of heat that transfers from one body to another increases, due to each body’s difference in temperature. As a consequence of this, the rate of heat lost from one penguin to another is much lower than the rate of heat loss from one penguin to it’s frigid
The Emperor Penguin can only be found in Antarctica. It is essential for penguins in general to generate and retain a constant …show more content…
Because majority of the Emperors coloring are black, the penguin is able to absorb all of the wavelengths of light, while reflecting none. This aspect consequently means that the Emperor is able to efficiently absorb heat and light from the sun and warm its body up relatively fast. Another favorable aspect of the Emperor Penguins development is that approximately 30% of a penguin's overall body mass can potentially be a well defined layer of blubber which consequently improves the thermal insulation of the penguin whilst swimming as well as stores excess energy and heat. Although, on it’s own the layer of blubber is not sufficient enough to ensure the penguins body temperature remains constant and stable. Therefore the penguin needs a varying combination of adaptations to ensure thermoregulation. One of these furthermore adaptations is the penguins size. The Emperor Penguin is the largest and tallest of all living penguin species by considerable margins. It is twice the size of the next largest penguin, the King. Both the female and male Emperor …show more content…
The Emperor Penguin also has a relatively complex and advantageous respiratory and circulatory heat exchange system. This heat exchange system allows up to 80% of lost heat in the penguin’s exhale to be reclaimed within the nasal passages, allowing the penguin to regulate it’s internal temperature without losing an excessive amount of heat. Allowing the penguin to maintain and preserve heat. Blood circulating throughout the flippers and legs of the penguin, transfers the heat to blood returning back to the heart. Therefore, this counter-current exchange of heat ensures that heat remains within the body. Due to the incredibly harsh conditions of the Antarctic the Emperor Penguin has also developed many social, behavioral adaptations, such as huddling together during the winter to maximize each penguins individual heat, which furthermore benefits the entire mass of the group. The reason that huddling closely together maintains the relative heat is because the overall rate of heat that transfers from one body to another increases, due to each body’s difference in temperature. As a consequence of this, the rate of heat lost from one penguin to another is much lower than the rate of heat loss from one penguin to it’s frigid