Penguins are generally considered a mammal, but in fact the penguin is a flightless bird that spends half its life under water and half on land.

Recently the penguins paid a lot of attention in the media, most cash collected cartoon "happy feet" and the documentary "March of the penguins", which tells about the history of long migrations of the aforementioned Emperor penguins.

However, if you want to learn some interesting facts about penguins, then you've come to the following address:

1 . There are 17 species of penguins. They include: Aptendytes (Great penguins), Pygoscelis (Cyst - Hostie the penguin), Eudyptula (Little penguins), Megadyptes (only 1 species of penguins Megadypte survived) and Eudyptes (crested penguins).

2 . In the process of evolution, the penguin's wings have evolved into flippers which are more adapted to aquatic life.

3 . Most penguins can move at speeds up to 6 - 12 km/h (3.7 to 7.5 mph) while underwater, but the fastest penguin (Gentoo Penguin ) can reach the speed of 36 km/h (22 mph). The Emperor penguin is known as a good divers, they dive under water to a depth of 565 meters (1870 feet) for 22 minutes - an absolutely incredible achievement for birds that are diving. Most species of penguins can stay under water for about 4-5 minutes at a time, as most of his food can be found at very great depths.

4 . The penguins have a striking resemblance to birds in flight while swimming under water.

5 . Penguins are not found in the Northern hemisphere. However, they have a remarkable resemblance to the Flightless Razorbill, a bird which became extinct in the 19th century.

6 . All penguins have natural camouflage that helps protect it from predators. The white front of the penguin protects it from predators awaiting them from down under, and their black backs hide them from predators looking from above.

7 . Penguins live in colonies, large species (Royal and Imperial), live in colonies of up to thousands of individuals, while the small species number in the hundreds.

8 . The penguins have no ground enemies and predators, but when they are in water, they may encounter sea leopard or a killer whale.

9 . Penguins eat fish, shrimp and other small aquatic life forms.

10 . Penguins can drink salt water because of special glands in your body that filters out excess salt in their blood. This allows them to live around salt water. And to survive, they don't need to be near a source of fresh water.

11 . Despite the widespread belief that penguins only live in cold places some penguins have been found far to the South, on the Galapagos Islands.

12 . Penguins are not afraid of human contact, this is due to the absence of terrestrial predators.

13 . Emperor penguins are by far the most recognizable of the penguin species. They are recognizable by their large size and orange coloration around their necks.

14 . Emperor penguins stand upright and have a height of four feet and weigh up to 90 pounds.

15 . Emperor penguins live in symbiosis with their second half, once they lay eggs, male and female take turns to keep the eggs warm while the other is busy looking for food.

Animals,Nature,Facts,Our world Is interesting