Emperor penguin body surfaces cool below air temperature

McCafferty, D J; Gilbert, C; Thierry, A M; Currie, John; Le Maho, Y; Ancel, A

Abstract

Emperor penguins Aptenodytes forsteri are able to survive the harsh Antarctic climate because of specialized anatomical, physiological and behavioural adaptations for minimizing heat loss. Heat transfer theory predicts that metabolic heat loss in this species will mostly depend on radiative and convective cooling. To examine this, thermal imaging of emperor penguins was undertaken at the breeding colony of Pointe Géologie in Terre Adélie (668400 S 1408 010 E), Antarctica in June 2008. During clear sky conditions, most outer surfaces of the body were colder than surrounding sub-zero air owing to radiative cooling. In these conditions, the feather surface will paradoxically gain heat by convection from surrounding air. However, owing to the low thermal conductivity of plumage any heat transfer to the skin surface will be negligible. Future thermal imaging studies are likely to yield further insights into the adaptations of this species to the Antarctic climate.

Citation

McCafferty, D. J., Gilbert, C., Thierry, A. M., Currie, J., Le Maho, Y., & Ancel, A. (2013). Emperor penguin body surfaces cool below air temperature. Biology Letters, 9, 20121192-20121192. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2012.1192

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Apr 1, 2013
• Publication Date: 2013
• Deposit Date: Jan 22, 2016
• Print ISSN: 1744-9561
• Publisher: Royal Society
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 9
• Pages: 20121192-20121192
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2012.1192
• Keywords: Metabolic heat loss; thermal imaging; thermoregulation; Antarctic
• Public URL: http://researchrepository.napier.ac.uk/id/eprint/9471
• Publisher URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2012.1192