11 more things about penguins...

Jan 20, 2016 

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Today is National Penguin Awareness Day! As if we weren’t already aware of how amazingly adorable penguins are. Not to mention, they’re one of the most unique species of animals on the planet. Among their many interesting characteristics, we pulled 11 facts you might not already know about these adorable creatures.

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#1 All seventeen species of penguins are naturally found exclusively in the Southern Hemisphere.

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#2 Emperor Penguins are the tallest species, standing nearly 4 feet tall. The smallest is the Little Blue Penguin, which is only about 16 inches.

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#3 The fastest species is the Gentoo Penguin, which can reach swimming speeds up to 22 mph.

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#4 Penguins’ striking coloring is a matter of camouflage; from above, their black backs blend into the murky depths of the ocean. From below, their white bellies are hidden against the bright surface.

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#5 Fossils place the earliest penguin relative at some 60 million years ago, meaning an ancestor of the birds we see today survived the mass extinction of the dinosaurs.

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#6 Penguins ingest a lot of seawater while hunting for fish, but a special gland behind their eyes—the supraorbital gland—filters out the saltwater from their blood stream. Penguins excrete it through their beaks, or by sneezing.

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#7 All but two species of penguins breed in large colonies of up to a thousand birds.

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#8 It varies by species, but many penguins will mate with the same member of the opposite sex season after season.

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#9 Penguin parents—both male and female—care for their young for several months until the chicks are strong enough to hunt for food on their own.

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#10 Because they aren’t used to danger from animals on solid ground, wild penguins exhibit no particular fear of human tourists.

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#11 Most species are also loyal to their exact nesting site, often returning to the same rookery in which they were born.

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Now, who wants to watch ‘Happy Feet’?

SOURCE