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{{Ambox|type = content|date = January 2016|text = This page needs more sources. Please add some more sources}}{{Taxobox
| name = Penguins
| fossil_range = [[Palaeocene]]{{ndash}}Recent
| image = Pygoscelis papua.jpg
| image_width = 250px
| image_caption = [[Gentoo penguin]], ''Pygoscelis papua''
| regnum = [[Animal]]ia
| phylum = [[Chordata]]
| classis = [[Aves]]
| ordo = '''Sphenisciformes'''
| familia = '''Spheniscidae'''
| familia_authority = [[Charles Lucien Jules Laurent Bonaparte|Bonaparte]], 1831}}
'''Penguins''' are [[sea]]-[[birds]] in the [[family (biology)|family]] '''[[Spheniscidae]]'''. They use their wings to 'fly' underwater, but they cannot fly in the air. They are sea birds which eat fish and other sea food.

Penguins live only in the [[Southern Hemisphere]] of the world: [[Antarctica]], [[New Zealand]], southern [[Australia]], [[South Africa]] and [[South America]]. The furthest north they get is the [[Galapagos Islands]], where the cold [[Humboldt Current]] flows past.

== Physical description ==
All penguins have a white belly and a dark (mostly black) back.  Penguins cannot fly, but they can [[swim]] very well. Their wings have become stiff and small swimming [[flipper]]s.  They have good [[hearing]] and can see [[water|underwater]]. The white and black colors are for [[camouflage]] (to help them hide) when they swim. So, when a [[predator]] looking from underwater sees the white belly and wings of the penguin, they can not see it well with the light coming from above. Seen from above, the penguin's black back blends in with the dark water. 

The biggest penguins may stand nearly 4 feet tall (110 cm) and can weigh almost 100 pounds (40 kg). The smallest kinds are only about one foot (32 cm) tall. Penguins have a thick layer of [[blubber]] that helps them keep warm, and their feathers are very tightly packed to make another cover. They also have a layer of woolly down under the [[feather]]s that are coated with a type of oil that makes them waterproof.

== Life ==
Penguins eat [[krill]], [[fish]], [[squid]], and other small animals from the [[ocean]], which they catch. They are at home in the ocean. They come up on the land or ice to lay their eggs and raise the chicks. They don't eat there because they live in places where the land has no food for them. In most species the birds all nest together in a huge group, called a [[rookery]].  They usually make [[nest]]s on the ground with rocks or mud.  

Most penguins lay two eggs per year but [[emperor penguin]]s lay only one.  After the penguins mate, the mother lays her egg or eggs and soon goes in the ocean to eat.  The father and mother take turns keeping the eggs warm, and of the chicks after they hatch.  The parent on baby duty has nothing to eat.  The time one parent is alone with the eggs or chicks and going hungry may be weeks or months depending on what kind of penguin they are.  

=== Physiology ===
Penguins cannot taste fish. This was discovered when a research team noticed they were missing some key genes for taste.<ref>Briggs, Helen 2015. Penguins lost ability to taste fish. ''BBC News'' Science & Environment. [http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-31490623]</ref> A closer look at the [[DNA]] of penguins showed that all species lack functioning genes for the receptors of sweet, [[umami]], and bitter tastes. It doesn't matter to them, because they swallow the fish whole, without chewing.

== Different kinds ==
There are 16-20 living [[species]] (types) of penguins. The white-flippered penguin is today generally considered a [[subspecies]] of the little penguin. It is still unclear if the royal penguin is a subspecies of the [[macaroni penguin]].  It is also possible that northern and southern [[rockhopper penguin]]s are separate species. 

=== List of penguins ===
* ''Aptenodytes''
** [[King penguin]] (''Aptenodytes patagonicus'')
** [[Emperor penguin]] (''Aptenodytes forsteri'')
* ''Pygoscoscelis''
** [[Adélie penguin]] (''Pygoscelis adeliae'')
** [[Chinstrap penguin]] (''Pygoscelis Antarctica'')
** [[Gentoo penguin]] (''Pygoscelis papua'')
* ''Eudyptes'' ([[crested penguins]])
** [[Rockhopper penguin]] (''Eudyptes chrysocome'')
** [[Fiordland penguin]] (''Eudyptes pachyrhynchus'')
** [[Snares penguin]] (''Eudyptes robustus'')
** [[Royal penguin]] (''Eudyptes schlegeli'')
** [[Erect-crested penguin]] (''Eudyptes sclateri'')
** [[Macaroni penguin]] (''Eudyptes chrysolophus'')
* ''Megadyptes''
** [[Yellow-eyed penguin]] (''Megadyptes antipodes'')
* ''Eudyptula''
** [[Little penguin]] (''Eudyptula minor'')
** [[White-flippered penguin]] (''Eudyptula minor albosignata'')
* ''Spheniscus''
** [[African Penguin]] (''Spheniscus demersus'')
** [[Magellanic Penguin]] (''Spheniscus magellanicus'')
** [[Humboldt Penguin]] (''Spheniscus humboldti'')
** [[Galápagos penguin]] (''Spheniscus mendiculus'')

== Images ==
<gallery>
Image:Sander-pinguins.jpg|Penguins in a [[zoo]] in the [[Netherlands]].
Image:Schwimmender-Pinguin.jpg|A ''Humboldt Penguin'' swimming underwater.
Image:AdeliePenguins.jpg|A colony of ''Adelie Penguins''.
Image:Eudyptula_minor_Melbourne.jpg|''Little Penguins'' at the zoo in
</gallery>

==Related pages==
* [[Tux]] ([[Linux]] mascot)

==References==
{{reflist}}

== Other websites ==
{{commonscat|Spheniscidae}}
{{wikispecies|Spheniscidae}}
* [http://en.citizendium.org/wiki/Penguin Penguin] at Citizendium