Penguins are funny and a little ridiculous birds. Adults and children are watching with equal interest how the crowd of these "footmen" rushes to the ocean! And with what incredible grace these creatures move under water, soaring on their small wings! And here a completely fair question arises: "Why does the penguin not fly?" Let's try to highlight this problem in more detail.
Initially, scientists assumed that they did not fly only because they were descended from flightless ancestors. This opinion was promoted by the fact that the same cormorants fly and swim well, moving on their wings in two environments.
However, now this opinion has been refuted. The fact is that scientists noticed one small detail while studying a photo of a penguin and his "colleagues". It turned out that the aforementioned cormorants can equally badly move in air and in water. The ability to fly in such "versatile" birds is inferior to that of ordinary "lords of the sky", and the ability to swim is even more mediocre and can not be compared with the artistic ballet in the water of penguins.
It was then that scientists put forward the theory of evolutionary expediency: why do you need to fly if it still turns out badly? Inquiring about why the penguin does not fly, the researchers forgot about the real need for flight. Indeed, most representatives of this species live in very harsh Antarctic conditions. To survive in the most difficult local winters, they have to store a huge amount of fat. Naturally, from an evolutionary point of view, this approach to survival is much more justified, since it allows the animal to do without food for a long time on the most difficult and coldest winter days.
So, modern researchers have an excellent answer to the question of why the penguin does not fly: this species simply refused to fly in favor of more urgent needs. As you can see, these birds did not fail, preserving their population and habitat.
However, science has many questions in comparison with which a hypothetically flying penguin looks completely unimportant. Most of the problems are connected precisely with the ability to dive: the mechanism that allows large species to plunge to an impressive depth is still unclear. So, the famous emperor penguin is able to dive half a kilometer deep and stay there for 20 minutes!
The question is not only in the biochemical processes that allow the large and muscular “emperor” to do without air for such a long time, but also how such a large and to a large extent land organism can withstand monstrous pressure drops and avoid decompression sickness.
The latter is especially true. After all, people cannot dive without protective equipment to a depth of 100 meters, and the dive itself, together with the ascent to the surface, must be done within a short period of time. How does our hero cope with this? Scientists do not know yet ... So it's time to stop thinking about why the penguin does not fly. It is better to apply your mental abilities to solve more pressing and complex problems.