microrobert
05-21-2013, 12:28 PM
Why Did Penguins Stop Flying? The Answer Is Evolutionary
Penguins' swimming prowess cost them their ability to fly, a new study says.
http://images.nationalgeographic.com/wpf/media-live/photos/000/676/cache/adilie-penguin-flapping-wings_67655_600x450.jpg
An Adélie penguin flaps its wings, which help the bird to swim.
Penguins lost the ability to fly eons ago, and scientists may have finally figured out why. A new study (http://www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.1304838110) suggests that getting off the ground eventually just took too much effort for birds that were becoming expert swimmers.
Flight might make some aspects of penguins' Antarctic life much easier. The grueling march of the emperor penguins, (http://newswatch.nationalgeographic.com/2013/03/27/emperor-penguins-encounters-in-the-antarctic-wilderness/) for example, might take only a few easy hours rather than many deadly days. Escaping predators like leopard seals (http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2006/11/leopard-seals/heacox-text) at the water's edge would also be easier if penguins could take flight-so scientists have often wondered why and how the birds lost that ability.
Why Did Penguins Stop Flying? The Answer Is Evolutionary (http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2013/13/131320-penguin-evolution-science-flight-diving-swimming-wings/)
Penguins' swimming prowess cost them their ability to fly, a new study says.
http://images.nationalgeographic.com/wpf/media-live/photos/000/676/cache/adilie-penguin-flapping-wings_67655_600x450.jpg
An Adélie penguin flaps its wings, which help the bird to swim.
Penguins lost the ability to fly eons ago, and scientists may have finally figured out why. A new study (http://www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.1304838110) suggests that getting off the ground eventually just took too much effort for birds that were becoming expert swimmers.
Flight might make some aspects of penguins' Antarctic life much easier. The grueling march of the emperor penguins, (http://newswatch.nationalgeographic.com/2013/03/27/emperor-penguins-encounters-in-the-antarctic-wilderness/) for example, might take only a few easy hours rather than many deadly days. Escaping predators like leopard seals (http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2006/11/leopard-seals/heacox-text) at the water's edge would also be easier if penguins could take flight-so scientists have often wondered why and how the birds lost that ability.
Why Did Penguins Stop Flying? The Answer Is Evolutionary (http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2013/13/131320-penguin-evolution-science-flight-diving-swimming-wings/)