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Penguin brains not changed by loss of flight
Modern penguins\' brains look different than their ancestors\' brains, but the changes were not caused by their loss of flight, says a new study. Leaving the sky for the ground gave ancient penguins their unique locomotion style, but losing the ability to fly did not cause major changes in their brain structure, the findings showed.
New York: Modern penguins' brains look different than their ancestors' brains, but the changes were not caused by their loss of flight, says a new study. Leaving the sky for the ground gave ancient penguins their unique locomotion style, but losing the ability to fly did not cause major changes in their brain structure, the findings showed.
"What this seems to indicate is that becoming larger, losing flight and becoming a wing-propelled diver does not necessarily change the (brain) anatomy quickly," said lead researcher James Proffitt from The University of Texas at Austin, US.
The researchers conducted the study in a penguin skull kept at the Canterbury Museum in Christchurch, New Zealand. The skull is from a penguin that lived in New Zealand over 60 million years ago during the Paleocene epoch. According to Proffitt, it likely lived much like penguins today. But while today's penguins have been diving instead of flying for tens of millions of years, the change was relatively new for the ancient penguin.
