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Difference between revisions of "Gentoo penguin"
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Westarctica (talk | contribs) (Created page with "The long-tailed ''gentoo penguin'' (/ˈdʒɛntuː/ JEN-too) (''Pygoscelis papua'') is a penguin species in the genus ''Pygoscelis'', most closely related to the Adélie peng...") |
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==Physiology== | ==Physiology== | ||
[[File:Gentoo-distribution.png|thumb|Distribution of the Gentoo penguin]] | |||
Because Gentoos live in the frozen Antarctic, there is not much fresh water available to them. Much of the Gentoos' diets are high in salt as they eat organisms with relatively the same salinity as sea water. This can lead to complications associated with high sodium concentrations in the body, especially for Gentoo chicks. To counteract this, Gentoos- as well as many other marine bird species- have a highly developed salt gland located above their eyes that takes the high concentration of sodium within the body and produces a highly saline-concentrated solution that drips out of the body from the tip of the beak. | Because Gentoos live in the frozen Antarctic, there is not much fresh water available to them. Much of the Gentoos' diets are high in salt as they eat organisms with relatively the same salinity as sea water. This can lead to complications associated with high sodium concentrations in the body, especially for Gentoo chicks. To counteract this, Gentoos- as well as many other marine bird species- have a highly developed salt gland located above their eyes that takes the high concentration of sodium within the body and produces a highly saline-concentrated solution that drips out of the body from the tip of the beak. | ||