2007-06-23 12:37:04 · 10 answers · asked by Marie 1 in Pets ➔ Fish
Big bodies, small wings. ~
2007-06-23 12:44:11 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
They do fly - they just use water instead of the air!
Because the water is more solid, their wings would snap if the bones were hollow. Try swinging your arm back and forth in the air, then in a pool sometime to see the difference. The bones have adapted to the stress of having to move through water by becoming denser - this also helps them to swim underwater, where the lighter bones of other birds will make them tend to "float".
2007-06-23 13:24:51 · answer #2 · answered by copperhead 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
For one thing, penguins are too fat. Also, their wingspan is too short for their bodies.
I'm not trying to put them down though. Penguins have just adapted to their environment. Antarctica is cold. They need plenty of fat to keep themselves warm. And they use their wings as fins, which is why those are so short and rigid. But by making those adaptations, they had to give up flight.
2007-06-23 12:53:04 · answer #3 · answered by stork5100 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Penguins, like other flightless birds (ostriches and emus) evolved from birds that could fly...65 million years ago the ancestors of today's penguins flew over the ocean and dove down into the water for food. Over millions of years, their hollow bones became solid and they could no longer lift themselves out of the water to fly. But, their heavier bones made is easier for them to dive down into the water.
2007-06-23 12:42:25 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
There wings are more like flippers on a dolphin. They can't fly in the air, but they can underwater.
2007-06-23 12:47:59 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
In short their feathers are not designed to fly in air they are too small to generate lift. They are more like rutters than wings and designed for water.
2007-06-27 03:14:51 · answer #6 · answered by danielle Z 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
They do fly, underwater that is. Their wing airfoil allows them to soar underwater with minimal effort.
2007-06-23 12:50:28 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
they are not fish...but...
their bodies are too heavy for flight, and their wings have become more flipper-like and are too small to support their weight. also their feathers are too short making them useless for flight.
but all this is prefect for gliding underwater.
2007-06-23 13:06:27 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Too much fat, not enough wing area.
2007-06-23 12:49:53 · answer #9 · answered by Charles C 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
they are too fat and their wings arent strong enough to lift them
2007-06-23 12:44:57 · answer #10 · answered by Levi P 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋