Penguins :: essays research papers

Myopic little men in tuxedos, or highly efficientland/water animals? Recent research indicatestheres more to penguins than meets the eye. Ifyouve every wondered what it would be like tobe fit to see as clearly under water as you canon land, just ask the nearest penguin.Most aquaticanimals are short-sighted on land. Most terrestrialanimals (and that includes us) are far-sighted underwater. But researchers have discovered thatpenguins can apparently see equally headspring in bothenvironments, because of the unique structure oftheir eyes. Penguins have to be able to see wellunder water because their diet consists mainly ofplankton, molluscs, crustaceans, and the inevitablefish. Through a special slowing-down of their heartrate theyre able, like many other diving animals, tostay submerged long enough to search out andchase some(prenominal) catches their fancy. On dry land,its a different story-or has been up to now.Waddling along on their flat little feet, eyes fixedintently on the g round, penguins appear myopic, ineffectual and generally out of place. In fact thereverse is true. During a recent stay on theFalkland Islands, a Canadian researcherdiscovered that penguins are able to recognizeindividuals and navigate the rocky terrain on whichthey live quite well. Long of body and short of leg,they probably poke their heads forward as an aidto balance. And as for looking at the ground,theyre merely-like us-keeping an eye on wheretheyre going. The human eye is adapted for aerialvision, which is why scuba divers-or even you andI in the local travel pool-must wear goggles ora face mask to re-introduce air in front of our eyesin order to see clearly. Among vertebrates ingeneral, the bird eye is frequently described as themost efficient. Its superior quality, combined withthe fact that a large number of birds-cormorants,pelicans, seagulls, even ducks, as well aspenguins-get their food from water, obviously