Antarctic penguins in ecstasy: Researchers suspect territorial behavior
Penguins get particularly excited when they have to wait long hours for their partner or mate. Previous assumptions that this could be a mating ritual were not confirmed by researchers.
Penguins share incubation and the feeding of their chicks. They take turns sitting on the nest while the other goes out to sea to hunt for krill. The chicks are fed with regurgitated stomach contents. During this feeding period, the number of "ecstatic displays" reportedly increases exponentially since the hatching.
"Particularly after the sixth hour, when the partner is supposed to return, the frequency increases significantly," explained Ignacio Juarez Martinez from the University of Oxford. This applies to both genders. Since the researchers observed this behavior outside of the breeding season, they do not see it as a mating ritual.
Moreover, this excitement seems contagious. Direct neighbors are encouraged by this behavior to flap their wings and call out. It could be "something like an ecstatic wave running through the entire penguin colony."
Researchers discovered this in studies of a colony of around 20,000 Emperor Penguins on an island in the northern Antarctic. They used so-called event cameras in their research, which work without exposure time and are therefore well-suited for poor light conditions.
Additionally, the reaction time of the cameras is smaller, making it easier to analyze quick movements, such as the flapping of penguin wings. The recordings were then evaluated using algorithms.
- The excitement among Penguins during long waits for their partners in the Antarctic is often misinterpreted as a mating ritual, but recent research conducted at Oxford University has challenged this belief.
- The ecstasy exhibited by Penguins, especially after the sixth hour of waiting, was observed by researchers in a colony of Emperor Penguins in the northern Antarctic using advanced event cameras.
- The contagious nature of this ecstasy was evident as direct neighbors in the penguin colony were encouraged to flap their wings and call out, creating an ecstatic wave across the colony.
- During the research, researchers discovered that this territorial behavior is not linked to mate attraction, but rather a sign of relief or anticipation when the partner returns from hunting in Berlin.
- The findings from this study could provide new insights into the emotional lives of Penguins and contribute to future research on animal behavior and emotions in harsh, Antarctic environments.
