Are penguins smart...

[Don S]

... Or did Monty Python actually predict an obscure future, with a sketch?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FZmx0jml1jk

Either way, Monty Python remains brilliant - and so are penguins.

[HermanAB]

Heck no. Penguins are horrible birds. Imagine an overgrown seagull with stumpy wings...

[Vitamin-Carrot]

I like penguins we used to get them here crossing the roads and wot not ... havent seem them in a while though

[mr.propre]

Its true, its true :lolflag:

On the other hand, penguins are interesting creatures, there is a nice documentary about them, I think it was called "the march of the penguins"

[Vitamin-Carrot]

naration by morgan freeman

i like the end of it when the enitre colony was wiped off the face of the earth by the evil sheep empire and their advanced wool technologies.

Baaaaaa

BOOOOOM!!!!

[Don S]

I've always wondered about the penguins:

They have wings, but use them to swim with.
They have large floppy feet, but walk around on ice.
They live on Antarctica, but have stripes of black and white - white doesn't absorb as much light as black; why even bother having white in the first place.
They have society, but fails to maintain a decent political influence, on the Antarctican government.
They follow the fashion of last century's formal wear.
They are represented as the mascot of a popular OS, but it is completely impossible to find any references of it, in any penguin magazine at the penguin market.

[Polygon]

I've always wondered about the penguins:

They have wings, but use them to swim with.

evolution, adapted to the sea rather then the air. Its a pretty good advantage as they can get food much much easier then other seabirds around the antartic, cause other ones can dive only for a few feet, while penguins can dive like 200.



They live on Antarctica, but have stripes of black and white - white doesn't absorb as much light as black; why even bother having white in the first place.

its again, evolution to help them hide from predators better. Since penguins spend the majority of their time in the ocean, they adapted this. They are white on the bottom, because if you are in the water, and look up, you see the sunlight, so if a predator is looking up, it would have a harder time seeing the penguins cause their white bellys blend in with the bright light. Same thing with the black, there is no water source in the ocean, so if your near the top and looking down, its pretty much dark/black...so if a penguin is swimming below you, its harder to distinguish their black backs from the dark water



They are represented as the mascot of a popular OS, but it is completely impossible to find any references of it, in any penguin magazine at the penguin market.

there are magazines dedicated to penguins? or is this just a joke =P

and to your original question, i think penguins are sorta smart, they can kinda be trained to do certain stuff like a lot of animals, but they like a ton of animals out there rely alot on instinct. I read an article on adelie penguins that when they were going to their breeding spot, there was this crack in the ice with the opposite side taller then the first, so the penguins would try and cross it, and would trip and fall on their face, and supposedly a guy watched the entire line of penguins trip and fall on their face rather then move 5 feet to their left and walk straight across with a smaller jump. They have just needed such strong instincts to survive in a harsh climate (at least the ones in the antarctic region) that when something changes, they dont adapt well =P

But i do believe that they have emotions and souls tho, march of the penguins was pretty convincing proof of that.