Julie Sheldon, a clinical assistant professor at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville’s College of Veterinary Medicine, answered the question “How many bones do penguins have?” for The Conversation.
Even though they look nothing like people or commonly encountered animals such as dogs and cats, penguins have similar skeletons and joints. They even have knees and elbows, but only about half as many bones: a human skeleton is made up of 206 bones, while a penguin has just 112.
Penguins evolved for a life on land and in the water, and they have a distinctive skeleton compared to many other birds. Sheldon explains how the structure of penguins has evolved over time to better suit their life. Read the full article on The Conversation.
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