r/askscience•
Mattson

How severely does life in captivity change the life of an Emperor Penguin?

Someone got me this cool documentary for Christmas called Planet Earth.

They showed the lives of the Emperor Penguins... correct me if I'm wrong but these penguins have to put up with some bad weather. The male penguins walk hundreds of miles into the interior of Antartica and safeguard the eggs. The whole time it is dark outside, the wind is blowing pretty bad, and colder than few can imagine.

After the harsh winter the females come back with food that they regurgitate food for the newborns and males to eat. These penguins have a pretty rough life.

But it got me thinking. What about the penguins in captivity? They don't have to put up with these harsh conditions. The males and females can be with eachother all year long. Males wouldn't even need to take car of the eggs anymore right?

Well I don't know... which is why I ask. How much does the penguin's life change in captivity?

Also... after some time, if evolution is correct, wouldn't these captive penguins adapt to this new environment and sooner or later evolve to the point where they are no longer technically emperor penguins? What would that be called?

Posted Dec 29, 2011, 5:18 AM UTC

10
Loading comments…