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2. Emperor Penguins are the tallest species, standing nearly 4 feet tall. The smallest is the Little Blue Penguin, which is only about 16 inches.
3. The fastest species is the Gentoo Penguin, which can reach swimming speeds up to 22 mph.
4. Penguins' striking coloring is a matter of camouflage; from above, their black backs blend into the murky depths of the ocean. From below, their white bellies are hidden against the bright surface.
5. Fossils place the earliest penguin relative at some 60 million years ago, meaning an ancestor of the birds we see today survived the mass extinction of the dinosaurs.
6. Penguins ingest a lot of seawater while hunting for fish, but a special gland behind their eyes—the supraorbital gland—filters out the saltwater from their blood stream. Penguins excrete it through their beaks, or by sneezing.
7. Unlike most birds—which lose and replace a few feathers at a time—penguins molt all at once, spending two or three weeks land-bound as they undergo what is called the catastrophic molt.
8. All but two species of penguins breed in large colonies of up to a thousand birds.
9. It varies by species, but many penguins will mate with the same member of the opposite sex season after season.
10. Similarly, most species are also loyal to their exact nesting site, often returning to the same rookery in which they were born.
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