Taylor Calandra

Period One

2/11/2011

Evolution of Penguins

One of the most famous names in science and in the world today, is Charles Darwin.

Darwin is best known for his famous theory of evolution. "Survival of the fittest" Charles

Darwin's contribution to science has been a very controversial one. He stated that each

generation will improve adaptively over the previous generations, and this process is the

source of the evolution of species. Natural selection is only part of Darwin's theory. He

also introduced the concept that all related organisms are descended from common

ancestors. One of the most famous examples of transitional fossils is the collection of

hominid fossils. "Based upon the consensus of numerous phylogenetic analyses, Pan

troglodytes (the chimpanzee) is the closest living relative of humans. Thus, we expect

that organisms lived in the past which were intermediate in morphology between humans

and chimpanzees. Over the past century, many spectacular paleontological finds have

identified such transitional hominid fossils." The fossils of hominid's are quite shocking if

youve never seen them before. When the fossil of a modern human skull is shown next to

the fossil of a chimapanze skull you cant help but notice the similarities. <Benton, M.J.

pg. 134> I personally do believe that humans evolved from primates. When looking at the

fossil evidence its hard not to be convinced.

Since Darwin’s death in 1882, there have been many new evidences that support the

theory of Evolution. The different types are the studies of fossils, the comparisons of

organism structures and the incredible knowledge of DNA. Fossils are any traces of

dead organisms. One concept that is discussed is the concept of fossils. Examples of

fossils are footprints of early humans, insects trapped in tree sap, and tracks of

dinosaurs. My thoughts are that fossils are real, because scientists have found many

fossils all over the World and to me it sounds logical that if an insect gets stuck in sticky

tree sap that it would harden and last for hundreds maybe even thousands of years. How

would someone be able to fake that? Another concept that is discussed is how the fossils

are dated. One way of determining a fossil's age is “Radioactive dating.” This technique

is how scientists use the amount of radioactive elements remaining in a rock or fossil

and determine it’s age.

For this evolution project, I choose to research Penguins. Today everyone knows the

largest penguin is the Emperor Penguin. That species measures about 3 feet tall, when

standing with its feet flat and it head at resting posture. We already know that some

extinct penguins got much bigger. The first fossil penguin that was found, is today being

held in the British Museum of Natural History. It was reportedly found by an anonymous

Maori in New Zealand in 1859 and was named Palaeeudyptes Antarcticus even though

the species was located far away from Antarctica. Since that discovery many more fossils

were found and were dated back to the Miocene era and three others from the Pliocene

era. The earliest avian fossil found in the southern hemisphere is said to have existed in

the Eocene age about 38-54 million years ago. There is evidence that at least three of the
modern penguins (Aptenodytes, Spheniscus and Pygoscelis) went extinct within the last

4-5 million years. The remainder of the penguins are from 5-40 million years ago, dating

back to the time currently recorded, when penguins evolved from other modern birds.

Research suggests that the tallest of these penguins were about 6 feet tall. Penguins did

originate from an ancestor that flew some 40 million years ago. The common ancestor is

assumed to have been somewhat similar to a modern-day diving petrel or auk in

appearance and behavior.

The main evolutionary advantage of giving up aerial flight the improved swimming

ability; in particular being able to swim quickly helps in catching fish and being able to

dive deeper (studies show that some modern penguins can dive up to 300meters) which

greatly increases the range of food which is available to hunt. Another major influence

in the evolution of penguins is likely to have been the availability of vast amounts of

food in the ocean. The resulting cold currents established in the southern ocean (once the

polar ice cap had formed) made them rich in nutrients and then led to the huge amounts

of fish and crustaceans in the area. An additional bonus was that the early penguins

could reach and breed on remote islands where no land predators had evolved. The

penguins most likely ruled the southern oceans as a top predator for several millions of

years. The black and white suit of a penguin helps them to hide from their predators

when they’re swimming in the ocean. When a penguin is swimming near the surface it’s

very hard for the sea lions, leopard seals and other predators to see it’s white underside.

Work Cited:
Theobald, Douglas L. "29+ Evidences for Macroevolution: The Scientific Case for
Common Descent." The Talk.Origins Archive. Vers. 2.83. 2004. 12 Jan, 2004
<http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/comdesc/>
Benton, M. J., and Hitchin, R. (1996) "Testing the quality of the fossil record by groups
and by major habitats." Historical Biol. 12: 111-157.