Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Why Do Penguins Have Wings if They Don't Fly?

     Although they can get some "air" when coming to shore or swimming at high speeds, penguins can't fly in the way we traditionally think of birds flying. But even though they can't soar through the air, they put their wings to good use when they're in the water. I think the author of the article in Science Now says it best: "Penguins can't fly, but don't feel sorry for them." They use their wings to propel themselves through the water, diving for up to 7 minutes and to depths of 300 meters!
     Paleontologists have been examining penguin fossils to determine what the ancestors of today's penguins looked like and how their swimming capabilities developed in a group of animals distinguished by flight. Julia Clarke and her team found a complete fossil dating back almost 36 million years ago. Clarke's team determined that this species of penguin (Inkayacu paracasensis) probably wasn't able to dive like modern penguins but that it was able to swim on the surface. Melanosomes, which are cells containing the naturally occurring pigment, melanin, are preserved in fossils. This allows researchers to determine the color of the animal in question. After examining the melanosomes from the fossil, the team determined this penguin most likely had gray or reddish-brown feathers. This may not seem like a big deal, but having black or dark brown wings is an advantage to penguins. The darker coloration occurs with higher concentrations of melanin which may also increase the strength and rigidity of penguin's wings. It appears as though having more melanin is at least one of the adaptations allowing penguins to become the skilled swimmers they are. However, one expert wonders why penguins aren't completely black if melanin is such an advantage. Another says that the black on white coloration provides camouflage. Perhaps this coloration gives penguins the "best of both worlds" so-to-speak; they have the strength of melanin as well as a white underbelly that is less distinguishable to predators in the depths. What do you think?

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I tried not to use too much jargon or uncommon words to keep the flow of the article going and also to prevent readers from becoming frustrated or confused. I included pictures to break up the wall of text; I know that I am much more likely to read something if there is a picture. I tried to "arouse and fulfill" by having a question as the title of my post, in the hope that readers would then want to learn more about penguins and their wings. I also tried to stay in active voice and explain things with enough, but not too much detail.

11 comments:

  1. I appreciate the comments at the end. You're exactly correct, pull quotes, pictures and sidebars or text boxes, give readers entry points into a story.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I think your post title and intro were effective in drawing me in. But I am not sure if I was really fulfilled? The information on melanin in the feathers is interesting, but in the end what does the fossil you mention tell us about the evolution of penguin swimming, and changes in their wings?

    ReplyDelete
  3. You attracted an outside comment! Good job.

    ReplyDelete
  4. great article. Im a big penguin fan, I think the penguins are superior to us when it comes to life quality. I sometimes blog about penguins on my blog tobiasnergarden.com, Theres an videoclip on youtube that show a family having a pet penguin, its hilarious.

    thanks for a great article!

    ReplyDelete
  5. penguins are cool they can fly they have wing and they swim they jump out of the water.

    ReplyDelete
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