So, remember when Hope was asking about the King penguins, and I crushed her little heart by telling her there was no chance we would recognize one penguin among the hundreds we would see?
Notice anything odd about this particular group of penguins?
One of these things is not like the other, one of these things just doesn't belong
Yep, there he is, Mr. King penguin. The general feeling is that this individual is a bit lost. The hope is that another King of the opposite gender will also lose his or her way, and a breeding pair will inhabit the island. That is about how the Gentoos started populating the island only a few decades back, so it's not like it's a completely crazy idea.
To address NP's comment from yesterday, the Kings, an Arctic species, are the second largest species of penguin (at about 11 to 16 kg or 24 to 35 lb), second only to the Emperor (also Arctic). So this fellow is quite a bit larger than the other breeds on the island. Which makes sense under Bergmann's Rule, which basically states that larger animals have a lower surface area to volume ratio than smaller animals, so they radiate less body heat per unit of mass, and therefore stay warmer in cold climates.
Although, as Jen might step in and correct me if I weren't a serious black-belt in Google-fu, there has been a more recent addition to the rule: Hesse's rule, also known as the heart–weight rule, states that species inhabiting colder climates have a larger heart in relation to body weight than closely related species inhabiting warmer climates.
So, the biggest penguins are found in colder climates. And they probably have bigger hearts. I do hope this handsome specimen manages to find a mate and settle down.
Poor little fella. You guys have good eyes.
Posted by: Debbie Hanson | January 27, 2012 at 09:23 PM