Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

This Beautiful Black Emperor Penguin May Be The Only One Of Its Kind

This Beautiful Black Emperor Penguin May Be The Only One Of Its Kind
DAVID TIPLING/GETTY IMAGES

Everyone knows Emperor penguins.

There was that hit documentary film narrated by Morgan Freeman, Non-stop Penguin Carnage.


Although most people know it by its other title:

(Death) March of the Penguins

Sorry, still feeling a bit triggered.

If you've ever watched a nature documentary that has gone into an antarctic climate, you've likely caught a few shots of emperor penguins waddling around or perhaps tobogganing down a snow drift.

If you haven't check them out!

They're kinda cute.


Emperor Likes Meyoutu.be


They're especially cute as chicks.




Now, IFLSciencejust released a picture of a different kind of Emperor Penguin with a solid black coat.

It is gorgeous, and sadly, it may be the only one in the entire world.



The totally black coat is likely a mutation called "melanism," which denotes a high concentration of melanin in the animal.

It's sort of like the opposite of albinism, although not exactly.

It's complicated.


According to IFLScience, melanism and partial melanism has never been documented in Emperor penguins before, so it is likely that this penguin is the only penguin of his kind.

Ornithologist Allan Baker, a professor of environmental and evolutionary studies at the University of Toronto and head of the Royal Ontario Museum's Department of Natural History said:

"It's a one in a zillion kind of mutation somewhere. The animal has lost control of its pigmentation patterns. Presumably, it's some kind of mutation."

He's still cute when he waddles though.


The Rarest Penguin On Earth | Dynasties Saturdays at 9pm | BBC Americayoutu.be


The mutation does occur in King penguins (the slightly smaller similarly marked cousins), so there are other cute melanistic penguins to take in.





But as for Emperor penguins, which survive primarily in the Antarctic against a constant blanket of snow, the melanism provides a distinct disadvantage.

The black coat stands out against the white of the snow.

It is unusual for the melanistic penguin to survive until adulthood because it is an easier target for predators.





This, combined with the rarity of the mutation, might explain why an adult melanistic Emperor penguin is so rare.

The risk still exists for the adult penguin, so as one user so astutely put it:


Yes.
Godspeed.

More from Trending/best-of-reddit

 Andrew Isker
Contra Mundum Podcast

Christian Podcaster Roasted After Claiming He Opts For TSA Pat-Down For Truly Bonkers Reason

Christian nationalist Andrew Isker from Tennessee avoids walking through an airport security scanner at all costs because he claims it makes people gay.

So what's the alternative method he prefers for security clearance? A full body pat down by male TSA agents, of course.

Keep ReadingShow less
Nancy Mace
Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images

Nancy Mace Ripped After Raging Over 'Evil' Constituents Asking Her To Host Town Hall

In March, House Speaker Mike Johnson and other GOP leaders held a caucus meeting to instruct Republican members of Congress to cancel town halls and avoid their constituents for the foreseeable future. But South Carolina MAGA Republican Representative Nancy Mace decided to take things a bit further.

Mace posted three videos attacking her own constituents for sending her an invitation and repeatedly asking for a town hall.

Keep ReadingShow less
Back shot of five young, carefree female friends stand in a field of tall sunflowers clasp hands and raise their arms to the sky.
Photo by Hannah Busing on Unsplash

Unbothered People Explain How They Became Immune To A-Holes

Being able to walk away from toxic people is a skill.

Too many of us have wasted too much time in life on people who drag us down.

Keep ReadingShow less
parents holding child's hands
Nienke Burgers on Unsplash

Times People Realized Their Parents Weren't Who They Thought They Were

Some kids grow up with an inflated perception of their parents. They see them as infallible heros.

These kids are usually in for a very rude awakening.

Keep ReadingShow less
Screenshot of Mykhailo Viktorovych Polyakov
10 News First/YouTube

American YouTuber Arrested After Sneaking Onto Remote Island And Leaving Diet Coke For Uncontacted Tribe

24-year-old YouTuber Mykhailo Viktorovych Polyakov was arrested after making contact with one of the world's last uncontacted tribes, making the perilous and ill-advised journey to North Sentinel Island and leaving a coconut and a can of Diet Coke on the beach as a gift to the Sentinelese.

Polyakov, 24, arrived at the northeastern shore of North Sentinel Island at 10 a.m. on March 29, according to police reports. He used binoculars to survey the land but saw no one. He then climbed ashore, leaving behind a Diet Coke and a coconut, took sand samples, and recorded a video, the authorities said.

Keep ReadingShow less