It is the fifth heaviest living bird species, after only the larger varieties of ratite. The weight ranges from 22.7 to 45.4 kg (50 to 100 lb) and varies by sex, with males weighing more than females. DescriptionĪdult emperor penguins are 110–120 cm (43–47 in) in length, including bill and tail. Mitochondrial and nuclear DNA evidence suggests this split occurred around 40 million years ago. Studies of penguin behaviour and genetics have proposed that the genus Aptenodytes is basal in other words, that it split off from a branch which led to all other living penguin species. ridgeni)-has been found in fossil records from the late Pliocene, about three million years ago, in New Zealand. Fossil evidence of a third species- Ridgen's penguin ( A. Together with the king penguin, the emperor penguin is one of two extant species in the genus Aptenodytes. patagonicus) but given the location, may very well have been A. Forster may have been the first person to see the penguins in 1773–74, when he recorded a sighting of what he believed was the similar king penguin ( A. Its specific name is in honour of the German naturalist Johann Reinhold Forster, who accompanied Captain James Cook on his second voyage and officially named five other penguin species. The lifespan is typically 20 years in the wild, although observations suggest that some individuals may live to 50 years of age.Įmperor penguins were described in 1844 by English zoologist George Robert Gray, who created the generic name from Ancient Greek word elements, ἀ-πτηνο-δύτης, "without-wings-diver". The female lays a single egg, which is incubated for just over two months by the male while the female returns to the sea to feed parents subsequently take turns foraging at sea and caring for their chick in the colony. The only penguin species that breeds during the Antarctic winter, emperor penguins trek 50–120 km (31–75 mi) over the ice to breeding colonies which can contain up to several thousand individuals. It has several adaptations to facilitate this, including an unusually structured haemoglobin to allow it to function at low oxygen levels, solid bones to reduce barotrauma, and the ability to reduce its metabolism and shut down non-essential organ functions. While hunting, the species can remain submerged around 20 minutes, diving to a depth of 535 m (1,755 ft). Its diet consists primarily of fish, but also includes crustaceans, such as krill, and cephalopods, such as squid. Like all penguins, it is flightless, with a streamlined body, and wings stiffened and flattened into flippers for a marine habitat. Feathers of the head and back are black and sharply delineated from the white belly, pale-yellow breast and bright-yellow ear patches. The male and female are similar in plumage and size, reaching 100 cm (39 in) in length and weighing from 22 to 45 kg (49 to 99 lb). The emperor penguin ( Aptenodytes forsteri) is the tallest and heaviest of all living penguin species and is endemic to Antarctica.
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