Thieving Penguins

Adélie penguins are quite interesting little fellows.  One interesting aspect of the Adélie penguins that we are going to look at today is their trickiness and thievery.

Penguins are popular animals and, with the possible exception of the emperor penguin, the Adélie is probably the most famous.  In his excellent book "Penguins:  Past and Present, Here and There," mammalian paleontologist and penguinologist George Gaylord Simpson says, "Pygoscelis adeliae has probably figured in more cartoons than any other creature except Homo sapiens."  This, in my opinion, and I believe his, too, is due to the fact that they seem so very human.  But looks aren't the only similarities that humans have with the Adélie; it appears that the Adélie penguin partakes in thievery, as well!  But if you don't believe me, you don't have to take my word for it!  Take the word of David Attenborough, in this clip from BBC's Frozen Planet, below! 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qhiG6_83pbc

The Adélie penguin is labeled "Near Threatened" by the IUCN, and lives throughout Antarctica.  Their two closest relatives, and fellow members of the genus "Pygoscelis," are the "Least Concern" gentoo (P. papua) and the "Near Threatened" chinstrap (P. antarcticus) penguins, seen below.
Finally, I would like to apologize for my lack of posts in the last couple of weeks!  What with school, the upcoming lecture, volunteering at the Morrison Museum, and watching every single episode of Psych (GREAT SHOW) in order, I have a lot going on, despite what my parents seem to think!  

Cryolophosaurus: The Dinosaur in the Freezer

When you looked at that picture, you probably didn't think much of the background.  You probably just glanced at the dinosaur.  Well take a closer look at that background.  Where do you think it is?  I'll give you a hint.  This is what that area looks like today:

If you guessed Antarctica, then you are 100% correct!  During the Mesozoic Era, or the time of the dinosaurs, Antarctica was a very different looking place.  It would definitely have been a bit nippy at times, but nowhere near as cold as it is today, and was more of a cool temperate biome!  Cryolophosaurus, meaning "Cold Crest Lizard" in Latin (and also the dinosaur in the first picture above), lived during the Early Jurassic Period, more than 180 million years ago.  As you can see on the map below, the world looked quite different than it does today! 

Interestingly, Cryolophosaurus was originally called "Elvisaurus," named such for the small crest that it has on its head, and its similarity to the swoop of hair that Elvis had on his own head.  I don't know why they changed the name, but if you ask me, Elvisaurus is a better name all around!

The inspiration for this post came from something that I saw Dr. Thomas Holtz, a famous paleontologist, share on Facebook the other day regarding Cryolophosaurus.  It was an incredibly interesting reconstruction, but I am not sure how factually based it is, given the dubious nature of the placement of the dinosaur.  Last I had heard, Cryolophosaurus was outside the given range of dinosaurs that had feathers, so I believe that it might have just been an artistic liberty on the part of the author!  Regardless, it was pretty cool looking, and I wanted to share!  

What Is It? The Weekly Challenge #1 Answer

Well, it's that time of the week again!  We only had a few guesses this week, and no one got it exactly right, but there were some close guesses!  The two closest were Kristie C., who guessed an Adélie Penguin, and Masaki K. who guessed Cormorant.  Well, the correct answer to last weeks challenge is Waimanu.  Waimanu is the scientific name of the oldest known fossil penguin.  Two species are known, and both of them were found on the South Island of New Zealand.  One of the species, Waimanu manneringi, lived during the Paleocene, around 61.6 MYA; that means that the oldest known penguin was swimming the oceans only a few million years after the death of the dinosaurs!  Although Waimanu manneringi is the oldest KNOWN fossil penguin, it by no means is the oldest penguin.  In fact, it is quite likely that, were scientists to uncover a fossil that shows when penguins split off from the other orders of birds, we would not even recognize it as a penguin.  Waimanu had undoubtedly already adapted to a fully non-aerial lifestyle, and almost certainly behaved much like modern penguins do when it comes to breeding on land, near the ocean.


Works Cited:

Waimanu, the first penguin. (2010, January 30). Retrieved July 11, 2012, from https://fossilpenguins.wordpress.com/2010/01/30/waimanu-the-first-penguin/