Why do not penguins fly?
We are used to the fact that birds can fly. Indeed, in the majority of it it is. But there are birds that somehow do not know how to fly. Perhaps the most colorful of these birds is the penguin. Let us consider in more detail why penguins do not fly.
Scientists are still arguing on the topic of absencethe ability to fly with penguins and put forward various assumptions. But all these reasons are very closely related. To begin with, we list the main alleged causes. They can be related to:
- features of nutrition;
- absence of real threats in the form of predators;
- energy exchange and a special structure of the fins.
It is known that penguins live in suchconditions in which not every animal is able to survive. A fairly severe climate limited the range of animals there, and therefore the danger threatening penguins from other species is not so great. This fact allowed the penguins not to think about the development of wings, as an adaptation, thanks to which penguins could escape from the enemies. Therefore, penguins do not fly.
In addition to the absence of predators, they also talk aboutspecific diet of penguins. And they eat mainly fish. It is clear that for this they need to dive and swim, and for this they do not need typical bird abilities. The non-use of volatile abilities for two reasons leads to the fact that nature arranges their limbs in such a way that it is convenient for them to extract food in water. And because the wings are transformed into fins.
In conditions of low temperatures,It requires much more effort to survive in the cold regions. Therefore, they are stored in fat, try to exercise as little as possible movements, as they take care of their available energy. And the flight, as you know, requires more energy than swimming, so penguins are simply not profitable to fly.
Also you might be interested in the article Why birds fly.