56. Emperor Penguin and Snow Flea

Baby its cold outside! But it could be colder. Just ask the giant emperor penguin and the tiny snow flea (who isn't a flea!...its called a springtail).

For our second week into our Weird Winter Wonderland Animal Fact episode we learn just how these two animals are able to withstand to cold. For the springtail the answer could have come from their ancestry and their special insides. And the emperor penguin, well, they've got some real fancy feathers that may not help them fly (in the air that is, as they fly through the water), but their feathers are a key element in their winter survival.

Bundle up, pour yourself something warm to drink and let's get weird!

To help protect penguins, their food and all critters of the sea, check out Monterey Bay Aquarium's Seafood Watch by clicking on the links below.

https://www.seafoodwatch.org/
https://www.seafoodwatch.org/globalassets/sfw/pdf/guides/seafood-watch-national-guide.pdf

Scientific Names
Snow Flea (Springtail): Hypogastrura nivicola
Emperor Penguin: Aptenodytes forsteri

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Transcript

Winter is coming! But for some winter is here. For others winter never leaves. Hopefully at this time you are like me and are getting ready for this winter season by always being cold. Not by choice. You are forced to wear multiple layers at night, including thick wool socks and you find yourself drinking multiple numbers of large quantity of hot totties in an intoxicated attempt to keep warm. The two animals of today’s winter themed episode do a few things to get warm, or maybe not necessarily warm, but they do things and have adaptations to keep from drying from the cold. Something I could learn from.

Welcome to Weird Animal Facts: Explicit a show dedicated to the weird, odd, unusually, gross and often times disturbing facts about animals. I am Deidre, and although I have worked as a zookeeper in mostly warm weathered regions of the United States; I did grow up in the wet, cold of Oregon and studied in the freezing cold state of Maine. And as much as I love the beauty of the snow, sometimes that cold can really suck. But the two animals of today have found ways, or I suppose I should say, have adapted over time to survive and not die at the mercy of Jack Frost. The emperor penguin and snow flea.

And for those of you only here for the penguins then I’m gonna make you wait! That’s right, we’re talking about the snow flea first Ha Ha! You’ll have to wait, and listen and learn about the tiny arthropod-ic snow flea before you can have your cute smooth feathery reward of the penguin. There are no short cuts in life, only suffering! But then again you could just fast forward to the penguin segment….please don’t do that, the snow flea is cool, and not at annoying as the fleas you find on you dog or cat because its not a flea! But I suppose if you must then go ahead and fast forward to the penguin; you sell out, but keep in mind that the world is only the amazing world that it is because of all the animals in it, not just the penguins. Just because Hollywood hasn’t made a movie about these cute dancing arthropods nor a documentary with Morgan Freeman taking about the life struggles of the snow flea doesn’t mean you should toss them aside. You don’t kick your least favorite child out of the Holiday Card photo, because even though they are annoying, but mostly misunderstood, they are still a part of your family. Remember this is what you wanted. You made that decision that gave you that child just like you made the decision to listen to this podcast, therefore you must deal with the consequences. And just so you know, those consequences aren’t that bad, as snow fleas don’t do any damage to your senses where a penguin is literally one of the more stinky animals out there. They eat fish, that means when that fish comes out its going to smell like digestive fish. And fish already smells bad, so if shove that fish through the poop making process you’re gonna get something nasty. Whereas the snow flea, they’re shit is much more useful and nowhere near as stinky. 

**Snow flea- Its not a flea, nor it is an insect. Um but aren’t all tiny, exoskeleton, spinless animals insects? Its just a bug? No, its not. And since this is an educational podcast that drops the occasional F-bomb, since we’re all adults here, I think its high time we all learn that not all creepy crawlers are insects let alone bug. Its time you learned the truth. And the difference.

Time to learn! Let’s start at the bottom of classification of these confusing creatures. (Kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus, species). Bug. We use this term, as loosely as bonobos fuck. Technically a bug is not anything on the classification of animals. Its slang. Like how we call it a star fish, when its not a fish! (you would know that if you listened to episode 41). But even though the term bug is slang, there are true bugs and those are insects that have a mouth part like a straw to suck up cocaine… I mean, there food. True bugs aren’t cockheads. And this sucking mouth part is a general rule for true bugs, (and no you are not a true bug even if you use your mouth to suck certain thing). In the whole classification of things (Kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus, species) these so-called “true bugs” are in the order of hemiptera. This includes, cicadas, aphids, bed bugs and leafhoppers (to name a few). But these true bugs are all insects as insects are the class (Kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus, species). And typically, it’s around the class and order where we humans get these spineless molting critters confused. But let’s learn the truth (You can’t handle the truth! But you can.) On the classification of animals (Kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus, species), above the class of insect is the phylum of arthropod. That is the master of title for all these so-called creepy crawly, exoskeleton, no backbone, invertebrates. This includes animals like crustaceans, arachnids, insects, centipedes, millipedes. In fact about 75% of all animals on the planet are arthropods. (Let’s go ahead and rewind that and say that again for the sleeping grandfathering in the back)

And the key thing to remember about the phylum arthropods is that they have and exoskeleton. So, a hard outside. Think of arthropods like a regular milk chocolate M&M. If you ate one, it would crunch then be smooth on the inside. And I’d love to break down each phylum and compare it to a bite-sized candy but its much more complicated than that. For example; we as humans are in the phylum chordate, and you’d think it would be as easy as saying chordates are like those chocolates in a box with a soft chocolaty outside and a hard toffee crunch on the inside; but the truth is to be considered a chordate all you need is a notochord and a dorsal hollow nerve cord. There’s this ocean animal called an Ascidiacea, or sea squirt which looks like aquatic spaghetti filter feeders and they are in the same phylum as us humans. Also, we all had a post-anal tail.

But since we aren’t talking about chordate (at least not until we get to the emperor penguin) we’re going to turn our attention back to the arthropods which the snow flea happens to be a member of. But ultimate what I’m trying to get you to understand is that whatever you’ve ever called a bug and/or insect might not have been that and what you should have been calling it, to be scientifically correct, was an arthropod. 

As for the snow flea they too are an arthropod but they aren’t a flea as fleas are in the class of insects, where the snow flea is in the class of Collembola. There are over 3,000 species of snow fleas and again, they aren’t fleas. What we should be calling them are springtails. 

Then why are they called snow fleas? Because they look like a flea and they jump. And the only reason why they are associated with snow is because it’s a lot easier to see a black critter up against the white snow. When really, these springtails (as we will now be refereeing to them) are active all the time; including the summer.

But just what is a snow flea…I mean springtail. A springtail can range from 0.25 to 6mm. The commonly known snow flea is typically around 3mm. For a reference, a tip of a crayon is about 2mm where the eraser end of a pencil is about 5mm. These things are tiny; and they’re black, and sort of cute once you get real close as they’ve got a chubby little body broken up into three distinct body regions (head, thorax and abdomen), they have no wings and six legs. But it might appear as though they have more then six legs as they do have two short antenna, a tube like thing on their underside called a collophore that looks more like a penis, but isn’t and then they also have that springtail as to which they are named. 

Take a moment to think about how a flea jumps. They use their legs. The springtail, doesn’t use their legs for jumping, they use their tail. Or a furcula to throw themselves forward. 

Fun Fact:  Furcula is Latin for “little-fork” as the springtail’s furcula has two points at the end like a little fork.

Double Fun fact: if the word furcula sounds vaguely familiar to you it might be because we Americans pull one apart every Thanksgiving…it’s the wishbone of a bird. That’s also called a furcula.

To jump, the furcula of the springtail will be pulled under them towards their belly and then once ready will hit against the ground to send them flying over 7 inches! Which might not sound like much but for a 3mm little critter to go 7 inches is over 100 times their body length and that sounds pretty damn impressive to me. 

But their jumping is just their most notable characteristics. Remember they also have six legs. Six legs they use from walking, running and even climbing. And since there are over 3,000 species of springtails in the world, there are also a lot of different adaptations. The springtail we’re talking about today is one that is probably the most adaptable. There are some springtails that are aquatic, some that live in caves, some in sand and even some that are found deep underground and don’t even have a furcula or eyes, or color pigments. And springtails are one of the most widespread and abundant groups of terrestrial arthropods in the world. That means there’s a lot and they are almost everywhere. We just happen to see them most in the wintertime when the snow is melting. You know, like when that white snow starts to look like someone sprinkled pepper all over it. That’s not pepper; that’s a bunch springtails!

Fun Fact: The springtails were once thought to be in the same class as insects, but after more studies, including fossil records it found that springtails have a lot of characteristics that say they come from their own separate lineage; bringing forth to us the class of Collembola.

 For those of you impatiently waiting for the penguin segment to begin; you are probably yelling at me asking “why do I have to learn about classification?! Why is this important?!” It tells us about animals’ shared ancestry which is important so to better understand why animals have the parts or behave the way they do. Chances are they got that from a shared ancestor. Its kind of like when you go swiping through those dating apps and swift left on that balding twenty-nine-year-old and right on that fully head of hair forty-year-old. Your dad went bald at eighteen, and you really don’t want to have a child with a receding hairline in their prom night photo. 

The springtails, commonly known as snow fleas, have some amazing adaptations that they could have very well gotten from their ancestors: surviving the cold. And I say maybe only because the commonly known snow flea that is actually more of a dark blue color then black, as we mistake it to be, is one of the only springtail species that don’t go dormant in the cold. And its because of a special anti-freeze like compound in their body. This protein is jammed packed with amino acids and these are what’s though to help keep ice crystals from forming inside their body.

Fun Fact: Scientist are studying the anti-freeze like protein of these springtails so to keep ice crystals from forming on organs during transport and ice cream! I’m not sure which one is more important.

Once you notice the snow starting to melt and you see pepper seasonings on the snow, remember those of the springtails and most importantly remember that you have nothing to worry about. They aren’t fleas so they aren’t trying to hitch a ride and feed on your tasty blood. A springtail actually has a polyphagous diet.

Polyphagous: feeding on or utilizing many kinds of food.

And you may think that a polyphagous is just a fancy way of saying omnivore but a polyphagous diet is actually much more inclusive as the springtails eat a large variety of foods such as bacteria, fungi, lichen, algae, decaying vegetation, mold, mildew, any plant matter, insect excrement. Basically, any organic matter they’ll shove into their mouth. And based on their diet I would dare say that the springtail is more important to the ecosystem then a penguin! In fact; springtails are called detritivores, meaning because of them and what they eat, all of the trees and plants have some tasty fertilizer that is helping them to grow big and strong. Not to mention the springtails are also an important member of the food chain. Not just because they break down leave litter but because lots of things eat them: spider, centipedes, mites, flies, beetles, ants, lizards, frogs and even birds. If you see that pepper snow at the end of this winter season just know that you have a healthy working ecosystem all thanks to those so-called snow fleas. Thanks snow fleas or should I say: 

Scientific names are hard: normally I have my roommate Emily, write down the scientific name that I don’t look at until now, but I did have to look at this name multiple times so to get the most accurate information for you, but just like how you know there’s a creepy guy at the other end of the bar who keeps staring at you, it doesn’t mean you take the time to get to know him. Scientific names are my creepy guy at the bar, and now I will do what all woman are taught not to do and ask this creep what their name is. Snow flea: Hypogastrura nivicola

**Emperor Penguin: congratulations to those of you who didn’t skip ahead just to listen to the penguin part and actually learned quite a bit of weird and wonderful winter facts about the so-called snow flea. As for the rest of you impatient snowflakes, I would just like to say that I’m not mad at you, just disappointed. As the snow flea, in so many ways is what’s keeping this planet alive. That’s right a thing that’s known as a flea (which isn’t even a flea) is doing more for this planet then you and me and even more than a penguin. You should be ashamed of yourself for underestimating the amazing weirdness of the superhero that is the springtail. And if you don’t know what a springtail is, then that just shows you why you shouldn’t cut corners in life. But if there was one animal that did cut a corner it might have been a penguin. “Why waste all my energy flying like those stupid skuas and albatrosses when I can just as easily survive waddling around on this icy floor. Flying is over rated anyways.” Says the penguin right before it got swallowed by an orca. 

Today we’re talking about the possibly overrated emperor penguin. Which is actually only one species of the said to be 18 species. And the emperor penguin is the largest and most famous penguin, thanks to movies like Happy Feet and March of Penguins. And ever since the first colony of emperor penguins were discovered in the early 1900s the world has fallen in love with these well-dressed flightless birds.

But before we get too far into the weirdness of the emperor penguin, we must cover a few general weird penguin facts; such as not all penguins live in the cold. Of the 18 species of penguins only five live in the Antarctic. 

Fun Fact: In case you forgot from our weird winter episodes last season; there is a difference between Antarctic and the arctic. The arctic is north (where polar bears and Santa live), and the Antarctic is south, where the emperor penguin live. Meaning neither polar bears nor Santa would ever eat a penguin.

And even though the majority of penguins don’t call Antarctica home they all do live in the southern hemisphere (that means south of the equator [the equator is that invisible line that runs around the center of the Earth at 0 degrees latitude {Latitude, by the way, are the geographic coordinates that tells us the north to sound position: think of latitude like the ladders of the Earth. But they aren’t real ladders….but that’s probably too much information.) Let’s get back to penguins! The emperor penguin to be exact.

In case you don’t know what a penguin is; first imagine a bird, but it looks more like a chunky child in a sac that had two holes carved out of the bottom of the sac for their thick black toes, that look to belong to one of the creepy puppets from Dark Crystal, can poke out. Luckily no one ever spends too much time focusing on those toes, unless you’re a newly hatched chick, as the rest of the penguin is rather regal. Named for their rather pompous stance and face of annoying entitlement, the name emperor penguin really does “suit” them (get it cuz it looks like they’re wearing a tuxedo suit). They are the largest of all penguin species followed by the king penguin who pretty much just looks like the emperor penguins’ little brother who could never live up to the expectations brought on by their quarterback older sibling. 

As for our star emperor of the south; the emperor penguin no only looks amazing but they have some amazing adaptations that allow them to survive the cold. 

Even though we humans are virtually naked, aside from a few hairy patches here and there, for centuries we have been able to find ways of surviving in the cold; from harnessing the magic of fire, to draping dead animals around our body. But penguins can’t just rub two sticks together, nor have we found evidence of any penguin species wearing the carcass of a seal like a cloak, so how does a bird stay warm in the oh so cold temperatures of the Antarctic? They are basically fucking on ice. 

Coming this winter to an ice rink near you, Disney’s newest emperor penguin frozen winter wonderland spectacular: starring Johnny Weir and  Stormy Daniels: Fucking on Ice. 

Frist, they’ve got feather. They might not use those feathers the way most birds do but flying is overrated anyways. It important to know that there are different types of feathers; and depending on the species of bird their feather types and styles can vary. And penguins are said to have the most feathers out of any bird. Why are lots of feathers good? Insulation. When you’re cold, what do you do? You put more clothes on. (Disclaimer: according to one study, there have been no published studies stating that penguins have the most density of feathers of any bird. And since these were real scientist who researched this and are actually researchers, I will take their world on it).

There are two type of feathers you need to know about: the outer covering that we see are called contour feathers; think of contour feathers as the ones that make the shape and color of the bird; contour. Then we have down feathers which are the small, fluffy feathers closet to the body, think of a down comforter and how warm it keeps you, that’s the job of the down feathers of a bird. (There are more feather types then this but for the purposes of this penguin segment, these are the ones you need to know).

For penguins the contour feathers are stiffer than most other birds, they are also completely waterproof! And these contour feathers are what’s so important, since penguins don’t fly in the air…they fly in the water, they need to make sure those insulating down feathers don’t get wet. In fact, the contour feathers are so stiff and great at keeping out water that you could say that they were even scale like…you know like a reptile!

Fun Fact: Birds are direct decentness of dinosaurs! That’s right, a chicken is more closely related to a T-rex then a Komodo dragon is. 

The feathers of a penguin provide up for about 80% of their total insulation and as per many animals that call very cold places home, they also have blubber! You ever wonder why so many cold weathered animals are fat. It’s because the fat is what’s keeping them alive! And for male penguins that fat is very important especially when it comes to surviving sitting on the egg. 

You see, unlike the male dominated society we woman have all grown to question; its not the female penguin who is forced to stay back and watch the young egg, it’s the male. And those poor males. As when its their turn to sit on the egg the female’s peace out.

Female emperor penguins are like those girls that are so good at just leading a you on. You know, those girls that flirt with you making you think you have a chance but then nothing ever comes about from it. How do they know the exact length of time to keep you strung along and begging for their every move and attention because right when you start to think, “this girl is just toying with me,” is when she walks in to relieve all your doubt and starvation….well maybe not actual starvation for humans but at least she feeds something into your empty heart that she’s been starving for the last 3 and half months. 

And yeah, after she lays that giant ass egg the female emperor penguin leaves the male, in the coldest, windiest time of the year for up to 3 months. And what’s even crazier is that they sort of have to do their egg incubating this way; males standing in a group in the freezing cold, barely moving, based solely on where they live and they are the only penguin species who are this strict about when their incubating season is. 

Freezing Fun Fact: During incubation it can get as cold as -60C with wind speeds over 100mph. 

What’s weird about the emperor penguins sitting on their eggs during the worst time of the year, aside from it being fucking cold, is that most of the other penguins of the world breed whenever! But since emperor penguins are social animals and live is giant colonies on the ice, they can’t make a rock nest like the tiny Adele penguins…adelie penguins.

Should I freeze here?

Or should I just start chasing pebbles?

Just like the adelie and gentoo

Or would it be a waste?

Upon this icy place, should I leave my brood?

Should I give?

Or should I just start chasing pebbles?

Under this Antarctic moon?

-

There aren’t many pebbles around on ice, and there’s not much food until spring time. And since all the chicks are scheduled to hatch right when spring rolls around it also means that there’ll be plenty of food for every one! So, you see those four months of wintery weather, it seems that the males have to endure with that egg, with no food, no ladies and only the company of their thousands of other dads just smooshing together to keep warm. They don’t really have a choice unless they decide to move. But since there aren’t any U-Haul in Antarctica, they’ll have to tough it out. And don’t worry about those starving males on the egg for two months during the winter cuz once mom shows up then, that dedicated and now skinny daddy can finally go get himself something to eat. 

And if you are looking to get something to eat, did you know that your eating habits can actually have an impact on wildlife? Penguins for example; they eat some of the same food as many of us: fish. But fish isn’t always harvested in the best ways. We humans catch a lot of fish. Too much fish sometimes. Now I’m not trying to get you to cut out fish from you diet (even though I’m pretty sure some of you already find the idea of eating a smelly salt water critter disgusting) all I ask is for you to become mindful. And to help make your seafood shopping both greener and easier the Monterey Bay Aquarium in California has a program called Seafood Watch. 

Seafood Watch helps you make sustainable choices when it comes to your seafood. In the episode description you can find links to the seafood watch website as well as a link to their handy consumer guide so that you can easily know which seafoods to avoid. Although emperor penguins aren’t endangered their population does appear to be declining, but hopefully it will warm you heart to know that you are helping to protect more then just penguins simply by becoming more conscious of the food you eat. 

Scientific Names are hard. Aptenodytes forsteri

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Winter can suck. And as I sit here recording this podcast with a hot cup of tea wearing wool socks, a scarf and knit hat I am reminded of just how much colder it could truly be. And since I’m an intelligent human being, just like you listening to me talk to myself, I smile knowing that because of this human intelligence we have we can help protect wildlife, their food and their homes and it makes me even happier knowing that we all are helping to protect this planet right alongside one of the greatest superheroes we have never heard of: the springtail.

Fun Fact: Springtails can also be found in Antarctica! And if you don’t know what a springtail is then that means you’re an impatient child who only showed up for the penguins. If that’s you, then maybe go back and check it out. 

As for the rest of you weirdoes out there who didn’t cut corners thanks! And I’ll see you next week for another weirdly winter wonderland fact-filled episode. Stay weird!

https://www.seafoodwatch.org/ 

https://www.seafoodwatch.org/globalassets/sfw/pdf/guides/seafood-watch-national-guide.pdf