Re: Penguins of the North (scenario)

[Ronald Orenstein <ornstn@rogers.com>]

At 03:04 PM 09/01/02 +0000, Ken Kinman wrote:
>     The only northern survivors of those "good times" are the Galapagos 
> penguins, the smallest penguins in the world.  Being small they probably 
> need less food, heat prostration would be less of a problem, and a lack 
> of predators-----these and other advantages allow the Galapagos penguins 
> to be the only modern survivors this far north.  But in spite of these 
> advantages, they are endangered due mainly to the  ravages of periodic El 
> Ninos.

Actually the Little Penguin of Australia and New Zealand is less than half 
the weight of the Galapagos species - 1 kg as opposed to 2-2.5 kg.

I would be very surprised to hear of any more northerly fossil remains - 
other than the Galapagos Penguin no penguin, alive or (I think) fossil, has 
been found breeding north of the South Temperate Zone.

PS - I made an error the other day - Gentoo as well as Chinstrap Penguins 
breed on the Palmer Peninsula, though the Emperor and Adelie are still the 
only widespread Antarctic penguins.


--
Ronald I. Orenstein                           Phone: (905) 820-7886
International Wildlife Coalition              Fax/Modem: (905) 569-0116
1825 Shady Creek Court
Mississauga, Ontario, Canada L5L 3W2          mailto:ornstn@rogers.com