Guest Article at Scientific American

If you’ve been reading March of the Fossil Penguins diligently, you probably already know most of the “Five Things You Never Knew About Penguins” in this article, but please check it out if you need a penguin evolution fix before the holidays:

Penguins are perhaps the most popular birds on Earth, thanks in equal measure to their incredible life cycles and charming tuxedo-clad appearances. Among their long list of superlatives, penguins can survive sub-freezing temperatures and gale force winds, dive over 1600 feet deep, hold their breath for more than 15 minutes, and survive with no food for weeks by living off stored fat [1]. These facts are so often repeated that they sometimes lose their initial wonder. Talking to K-12 schools as a guest speaker, I’ve found that half the classroom often knows many of these bits of penguin trivia before the presentation even starts, thanks to popular books, television specials, and the movie “March of the Penguins”.

To read the rest of the article, click here: http://www.scientificamerican.com/blog/post.cfm?id=five-things-you-never-knew-about-pe-2010-12-20