Looking at a penguin standing or waddling around on the island it may look like they have very short legs and no knees.
But yes, penguins do have knees!
A penguin’s leg is composed of a short femur, knee, tibia and fibula. The upper leg bones are not visible as they are covered in feathers giving penguins a very short legged appearance. Here you can compare the leg of a penguin skeleton to a model of a human skeleton.
Take at look at these x-rays of one of our penguins and you can see the leg bones, including the knee joint and how most of it is covered in the penguin’s body.
Head-on x-ray of penguin, the knees are in green rectangles
Side-view of penguin knees in yellow rectangle
So now you know!
- Andrea
But yes, penguins do have knees!
A penguin’s leg is composed of a short femur, knee, tibia and fibula. The upper leg bones are not visible as they are covered in feathers giving penguins a very short legged appearance. Here you can compare the leg of a penguin skeleton to a model of a human skeleton.
Take at look at these x-rays of one of our penguins and you can see the leg bones, including the knee joint and how most of it is covered in the penguin’s body.
Head-on x-ray of penguin, the knees are in green rectangles
Side-view of penguin knees in yellow rectangle
So now you know!
- Andrea
But do those knees work? I mean, can the bend or is the body in the way? do they serve a function?
ReplyDeleteamazing
ReplyDeletePerhaps their ancestors lived in a warmer climate. They may have also been much thinner. So hypothetically if their ancestors were in a warmer climate and were thinner those legs could have been used for standing in shallow waters to hunt for food.
ReplyDeletePeople have found penguin fossils that showed that they where at least 6 feet tall
DeleteI used this to prove my brother wrong, thanks!
ReplyDeleteI am wondering how penguins get up from a prone position? If they fall down, for example, do they use their flippers to push themselves up?
ReplyDeletehow do penguins use there knees
ReplyDeleteMy gypsy friend asked me this and I didn't have an answer. This was interesting! Thanks!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the x-rays and the standing skeleton. It appears that penguins' legs are more structurally similar to ours than any other avian. The bones are quite thin, but penguins have no need for the more robust femurs, tibias and fibulas; or hip, knee, and ankle joints as we. They make their living in the oceans, standing to enhance their vigil against predators while roosting (warming their eggs) on land. Also, going bipedal-upright allows them to "walk" up the slope of the beach with great dignity as they emerge from the surf. Go Penguins!
ReplyDeleteNow I can sleep, praise the LORD, THANKYOU
ReplyDeleteAwesome! Someone just posted that question on my facebook so I had to do a search. :-)
ReplyDeleteThis was frequently asked?
ReplyDeleteI saw this question on the IOS app IFunny, so I just had to look it up.
ReplyDeleteYOU SAVED MY SLEEP!
ReplyDeleteThank you for answering this. And for the cute penguin pictures here.
ReplyDeleteDid anyone else get here from the wheezy waiter video?
ReplyDelete