One common question that every bird lover has asked is – do penguins have wings or flippers? The truth is that penguins have evolved to use their wings as flippers. So, the correct terminology for penguin wings would be flippers as penguins use these to swim underwater or to propel out of the water with great force.
How Did Penguin Wings Evolve to Work as Flippers?
Penguin flippers look like airplane wings, and these are tapered and flattened for maximum efficiency underwater. Each flipper is covered with short, scale-like feathers that are hard and give the flippers the rigidity that is essential for swimming underwater. Flippers also help penguins to maintain their balance when they are walking or hopping from one place to another.
In the cold and inhospitable regions of the Antarctic, penguins did not need to fly as their food and sustenance were available on land or in the water. As penguins evolved, their wings took the shape of flippers that were better suited for swimming motion than flying. Even when penguins swim underwater, their swimming strokes are similar to the strokes of birds when they fly. Their powerful flippers also make them excellent underwater hunters as they allow the penguins to swim to the location of their prey quickly.
Penguin Flippers Help to Save Energy While Swimming
The flippers of penguins are designed with an economy of energy in mind. There are no joints in the flipper which allows penguins to move their flippers with more power. This is especially useful when penguins dive deep and they have to battle the current and pressure of water to move further.
The flipper is not very flexible either which is further important in reducing the change of injury while swimming. The movements of penguin flippers are such that they keep the penguins streamlined and reduce any drag of water when diving or swimming underwater.
Penguin flippers also help penguins to dive deeper. Emperor penguins can dive up to 1870 feet and stay underwater for up to 20-22 minutes. On the ground, penguins use their flippers and feet to propel on the snow while they are lying on their bellies. This helps them in moving quickly from one point to another while saving their energy.
Flippers Are Essential for Regulating Penguin Body Temperature
Flippers are also helpful for penguins to keep the body temperature regulated. The weather in the Antarctic region can get cold to several degrees below zeroes. Penguins huddle together to bear the cold and they keep their flippers close to their body to conserve their body heat. There are times when penguins feel too hot in the huddle, penguins move out of the huddle and spread their flippers so that they can cool down and bring their body temperature to a comfortable level.
The way penguin flippers are colored, it helps them in camouflage when they are in the water. From above, penguins look like the shade of the dark water. And from below, the white of their bellies makes them look like a part of the sky. This kind of camouflage has dual advantages as penguins can not only escape the notice of predators, but they can hunt fish efficiently, too.
Penguins Use Their Flippers in Courting Rituals
Another use of penguin flippers is in courting their mate. Penguins will often spread their flippers and bow to their mate while courting. They will also touch flippers to show their attraction towards their mate. For penguins, flippers are used in many ways to express themselves. They will hit other penguins with their flippers when angry and they will spread their flippers to look bigger and assert their dominance over other penguins.
Penguins often get into fights with other penguins over territory, mates, or rocks they use to build their nests. When fighting with each other, penguins will use their flippers to slap and attack the other penguins until one party wins.
Conclusion
So, what do you think? Do penguins have wings or flippers? You can easily say that they have flippers that evolved from wings. In effect, flippers are a type of modified wings. For penguins to survive in the harsh climate of Antarctica, having wings had no evolutionary advantage and it would have taken much more energy to maintain and fly with wings.
As time passed and penguins had less and less use for their wings, nature took its course and penguins developed flippers which were much more efficient in helping penguins survive and thrive in the difficult weather conditions in the Antarctic region.
If you have any questions or queries about penguins having flippers, please feel free to discuss them in the comment section.
Image Source:
- Penguins Use Their Flippers to Dive Deeper by derdento / Pixabay License
- Penguins Spread Their Flippers to Regulate Body Temperature by webandi / Pixabay License