PENGUIN
			Phylum: Class: Order: Family: Chordata Aves Sphenisciformes Spheniscidae

Famous for their funny waddle-walk, penguins are flightless seabirds. They are stout in build, and have a protective layer of blubber around their bodies to keep them warm. On land, penguins strut or waddle around, lacking the grace that they show in water, because they have short legs, which are set far back on their bodies.

Their wings have evolved into powerful flippers, which can propel the penguin through water like a torpedo. This enables the seabird to catch fish and squid in its strong bill. The wings are almost featherless, but the body is protected by short, dense feathers without barbs, which make the body waterproof.

Penguins are found in the Southern Hemisphere, but they are not confined to the Antarctic region. Of the 17 species, only six breed in Antarctica, and only two of these six, the Adelie penguin and the emperor penguin, are completely confined to the Antarctic. The other 11 species breed around the shores of Africa, Australia, New Zealand, and South America.

Interestingly enough, one species of penguin actually breeds on the Equator in the Galapagos Islands. The Galapagos penguin survives there because the sea is chilled by a cold ocean current which sweeps up from the south.