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Penguins: Behavioural Ecology and Vocal Communication

  • Living reference work entry
  • First Online:
Encyclopedia of Animal Cognition and Behavior

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Synonyms

Spheniscidae

Life History

Penguins (Aves, Sphenisciformes, Spheniscidae) are a family of seabirds that have evolved to swim and have lost the ability to fly about 60 million years ago (Williams 1995). Adapted to life underwater, penguins have developed strong hard flippers, with fused bones for fast propulsion when swimming. Their feathers are more abundant, dense, and miniaturized compared to other birds. These feathers are hard and stiff with a flattened shaft that overlaps, to provide insulation and waterproofing. Penguins have heavy, solid bones, as they lost the pneumatization of their bones, which was developed by flying birds to keep as light as possible and would be a disadvantage for penguins, increasing their buoyancy. All penguin species have the classic black-and-white “tuxedo,” a countershading assumed to serve as camouflage and helps disguise them from both prey and predators at sea: their dark back color helps blend in with the dark of the ocean floor, and the...

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Life Sciences and Systems Biology, University of Turin, Turin, Italy

    Livio Favaro

  2. Institute for Coastal and Marine Research, Nelson Mandela University, Port Elizabeth, South Africa

    Lorien Pichegru

Authors
  1. Livio Favaro
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  2. Lorien Pichegru
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Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Livio Favaro or Lorien Pichegru .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Oakland University , Rochester, Michigan, USA

    Jennifer Vonk

  2. Department of Psychology, Oakland University Department of Psychology, Rochester, Michigan, USA

    Todd Shackelford

Section Editor information

  1. University of St. Andrews, St. Andrews, UK

    Lauren Guillette

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Favaro, L., Pichegru, L. (2018). Penguins: Behavioural Ecology and Vocal Communication. In: Vonk, J., Shackelford, T. (eds) Encyclopedia of Animal Cognition and Behavior. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-47829-6_844-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-47829-6_844-1

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  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-47829-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-47829-6

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