As I sat down to write this post, I asked Blaine for some inspiration. First, he suggested writing a post about cats, but because I’ve dedicated a handful of posts to these majestic creatures already, I asked him for another suggestion.
Here we are. Penguins, ladies and gentlemen.
I fucking love penguins. I can’t say I’ve ever met one personally, but I’ve admired them from afar, and I find them to be rather adorable and also peculiar. I wanted to learn a little more about them following Blaine’s suggestion, and so this information comes from seaworld.org.
“Description: The upright body posture and mostly black-and-white coloration makes penguins easy to distinguish from other birds. As with other marine animals, penguins have a fusiform (tapered) shape. The forelimbs are modified into flippers, the tail is short and wedge-shaped and the hind limbs are set far back on the body, which is supported on land by webbed feet. Species-specific markings on the head and facial areas make it easy to tell the adults of most penguin species apart. Male:Â Male and female penguins of most species are not sexually dimorphic. The exception is the crested penguins in which males are more robust and have larger bills.
Size: The emperor penguin is the largest penguin, standing 112 cm (44 in) tall. The smallest penguin is the fairy penguin, standing just 41 cm (16 in.).
Weight: Of the 18 penguin species, emperor penguins weigh the most at 27 to 41 kg (60 to 90 lbs.). In contrast, the fairy penguin is the lightest, weighing roughly 1 kg (2.2 lbs.)
Diet: Fishes, squid, and krill (a shrimp-like crustacean)
Incubation: In most species of penguins, both the male and female parent takes turns incubating the egg. In emperor penguins, the female transfers a newly laid egg to her mate’s feet, and then leaves to feed at sea while the male incubates the egg for as long as 66 days. The incubation period lasts anywhere from 4 weeks (erect-crested penguins) to 66 days (emperor penguins),” the web page states.
Let’s hear it for penguins.
ontheedgeofeverything 
