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!