Penguin Age in Human Years Calculator

Penguins (genera Sphenisciformes, species Spheniscidae) are flightless birds of an aquatic group found only in the southern hemisphere, especially the Antarctic. Highly adapted to life in water, penguins are birds with contrasting colours, black and white hair and their wings becoming flippers. While swimming under water, most penguins feed on small caught fish, fish, squid and other aquatic animals. They spend about half their life on earth and half their life in the oceans.

Although all penguin species are native to the southern hemisphere, they are not found only in cold climates such as the Antarctic. In fact, of some species of penguins now only a few live further south. Several species are found in the temperate zone and one species of Galapagos penguin lives near the equator.

The wings of penguins, which have become unusable for flight, are on the other hand very suitable for swimming and diving. They are covered with a dense layer of short, stiff feathers. The feathery down at the base of the feathers traps hot air, while the oily tip insulates against water. Gentoo penguins can swim at speeds of 35 km/h (compared to 9 km/h for the best Olympic swimmer) and emperor penguins can dive more than 520 m to search for food, which is the absolute record among all birds.

These birds are massive, with a short neck, pointed beak and webbed feet. The articulation of the femurs at the level of the pelvic belt imposes a vertical stature on the ground. The fact that they are massive and therefore that their legs, head, pectoral fins and tail are not really separated from the body, gives them good resistance to cold. Indeed, the surface in contact with the outside is reduced. In addition, penguin fossils show the presence of furrows at the level of the humerus and the anterior fin, furrows which indicate the existence of a plexus adapted to thermoregulation. Blood circulation (kind of counter-current exchangers between cold venous blood and warm arterial blood) to be able, in a climate that was hot at the time, to dive into very cold waters to fetch their food and which today serves them to protect themselves against the cold climate. They also have a good layer of fat. Their plumage is colorful, black on the entire dorsal side and white on the belly, embellished, in some species, with red, orange or yellow on the neck and head. It is formed of small, very tight feathers, comparable to scales, uniform over the whole body, a fact unique among birds.

If your penguin was a human, how old would he/she be? Ever wonder how old your penguin is in human years? Use above tool to calculate your penguin's "human" age. We have created an easy-to-understand chart that shows penguin age by converting it to a human age.