Emperor Penguin parents with chick

Friday, January 6, 2012

Picture

Nervous System

-central nervous system that includes the brain and spinal cord
-system obtains information about internal and external environment
-analyzes response needed for the environment
-stores information for learning
-coordinates movements to muscles

Thursday, January 5, 2012

Unique Info

-weigh up to 85 or 90 pounds
-grow up to 4 feet tall
-life span is about 20 years
-very social animals that hunt together
-sleep standing up
-can become sunburned if they live too close to the equator
-use the sun to know when to be hunting and to help migration

Integumentary System

-thick layer of down, outer feathers, and blubber used as insulation
-body oil covers surface of the body and keeps it dry at all times
-chicks covered in wooly down
-feathers are smaller, stiffer, and narrow compared to flying birds
-feathers made of keratin that is water repellent also

Video

ttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_xrjzq1BOv8

Respiratory System

-lungs help avoid depressions sickness when diving
-breathe quickly at surface, not disturbing the forward motion
-pant in heat

Digestive

-they dive for an average of six minutes to forage
-blow air bubbles in cracks in the ice to flush out hiding fish
-males are able to store undigested food in their stomachs while incubating their egg
-digestive system alike to other birds, including organs such as a crop, gizzard, pancreas, and intestines, excreting through the cloaca

Classification:

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Sphenisciformes
Family: Spheniscidae
Genus: Aptenodytes
Species:  forsteri

Reproductive

-one partner for life unless an individual's partner dies
-males attract mate with bright orange ear patches
-mate in May or June
-one egg is laid a few hours after mating
-egg sits on a parent's feet for almost two months of incubation
-young hatched beginning of August
-mature at about 4 years

Wednesday, January 4, 2012

Circulatory System

-four-chambered heart that is larger relative to size than other animals
-heart pumps more when individual is swimming, mating, escaping, etc. and slows down when resting or standing
-veins and arteries run through feet and flippers
-veins are wrapped around each other to absorb heat that was pumped from the heart to reduce heat loss
-if overheated, the veins dilate, bringing the body's heat to the surface

Skeletal/Muscular Systems

Skeletal:
-allows for birds to stand upright
-denser bones to overcome buoyancy compared to flying birds that have hollow, lightweight bones
- three sections of the skull correspond to certain portions of the brain
-two piece mandible
-larger sternum for swimming and sliding
-each limb has one bone, not including phalanges

Muscular:
-oxygen stored in myoglobin in muscle that allows deeper and longer dives
-wings and breast muscles help propel through the water