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?
ReplyDeletelook in the second X-ray, the knees are bent at different angles
DeleteI believe the knees would be used a great deal for swimming.
DeletePerhaps 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
DeleteMaybe then they'd even be able to fly.....
Delete....I don't know if this is a joke or not....Hoping it's a joke...
DeleteI...I just....I give up on people. How can we not be talKING ABOUT THE FACT THAT THERE WERE 6 FOOT PENGUINS WITH LEGS AND KNEES?!?!?!!?
DeleteWow!!! That is so cool. ������
DeleteThey DO fly...underwater. Same movements, different substrate!
DeleteI used this to prove my brother wrong, thanks!
ReplyDeletemy brother used this to prove me wrong...
DeleteMy gf proved me wrong -.-
DeleteI 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!
ReplyDeleteperhaps having such a lengthy coverage of feathers over their knees is beneficial in incubating their eggs. It seems it would offer insulation and protection in a harsh environment, and I believe parents share in the responsibility of incubation.
DeleteNow I can sleep, praise the LORD, THANKYOU
ReplyDeleteexactly why i'm here. Now we can all rest!
DeleteLMFAO!
DeleteAwesome! Someone just posted that question on my facebook so I had to do a search. :-)
ReplyDeleteThis was frequently asked?
ReplyDeleteOnce someone brings up the subject of penguin knees you can't sleep unless you've found the answer!
Deleteexactly!!!
DeleteI saw this question on the IOS app IFunny, so I just had to look it up.
ReplyDeleteYOU SAVED MY SLEEP!
ReplyDeletehaha i saw that picture
DeleteThank you for answering this. And for the cute penguin pictures here.
ReplyDeleteDid anyone else get here from the wheezy waiter video?
ReplyDeletehahahahaha yes
Deletethey have to be able to bend so they can squat down and protect their eggs.
ReplyDeleteYesss I can sleep noow halli lu yeur
ReplyDeleteLoL! + Does anyone know if pigeons have any knees at all ???, I obviously would not be able to sleep if I do not find out LoL!, btw thanks if you do manage finding the answer + Good Luck! You Might Need It. Also, may I say a really Big Thank You, to whoever found This Information.
ReplyDeleteYes, but because of the way the pigeon's legs are built they're up near and under the feathers. What lots of folks (including one answerer here) believe are the "knees" going "backwards" are actually the birds "heels". The easiest way to visualize it is to stand on your tiptoes. When you do that (which is what all birds do), then your heel is now pointed "backwards"; pretend that you knee is now up in your feathers nearer your torso and you have what a pigeon does. So, yes, they do have "knees".
DeleteYes, pigeons do have knees
ReplyDeleteTHANKS! Now the fourth voice in my head stops bugging me about it and wants to go to sleep too, like the other three. :)
ReplyDeleteI saw this on Facebook lol.
DeleteHaha, so did I!
Deleteclearly this is a common concern among insomniacs everywhere... now I must sleep.
ReplyDeleteWhere is everyone from? amazing how we all so concerned about this and we from different parts of the globe
ReplyDeleteInteresting indeed!
Deletei love me some penguins
ReplyDeletemy whole class has been asking me this for a month "do penguins have knees?" now I can say 4 sure they do
ReplyDeleteMaking my day at uni so much better! Useless facts are always more interesting than the ones we need to know :D
ReplyDeleteMy sister and i laughed over again and when someone talked about them we burst out laughing.
ReplyDeleteWell now I know i can finally sleep easy i have thought about this for some time but never googled it till now
ReplyDeletesame here, its weird what you think about when you are trying to relax and go to sleep.
DeletePENGUIN KNEES ARE TERRIFYING
ReplyDeleteSaved my sleep
ReplyDeleteTwo penguins are on an ice floe. One says to the other, "You look like you're wearing a tuxedo."
ReplyDeleteTo which the other replies, "Who's to say I'm not?"
Kudos to "Prairie Companion" and Garrison K.
But can they kneel??
ReplyDeleteOMG I just love penguins so much I could eat them all up
ReplyDeleteThat is so cool
ReplyDeleteI used this to calm my class down when all they could think of was whether or not penguins have knees. You should have seen their faces!
ReplyDeleteI always thought penguins had little stubs for legs, with no joints. I couldn't sleep, so i looked it up, and i saw the legs to be jointed and long. Wow. That is mind blowing.
ReplyDeleteThank goodness , that's the end of that then lol
ReplyDeletethe nature is unbelievable!
ReplyDeletehi thanks for the information my school teacher told me that they don't have lol
ReplyDeleteLol! I used this for my speech topic and everyone was suprised
ReplyDeleteWait...before everybody goes to sleep: I always hear about the "Bees Knees." Do bees have knees???
ReplyDelete