CNN News:南极洲并非故乡 新研究称企鹅起源于澳新地区

What kind of bird is unable to fold its wings? Ostrich, penguin, condor, pelican. The penguin's wings are more like flippers that help it swim through the water but they don't fold.

New research has yielded a new theory about penguins. For years, scientists have said the animals originated in Antarctica. Researchers at the University of California Berkley say penguins first came on the scene in Australia and New Zealand. Scientists teamed up with international museums and universities to look at blood and tissue samples from 18 different penguin species. From this, they suggested that the ancestors of modern-day penguins first occupied tempered environments which can have warm summers in addition to cold winters. The research proposed that the predecessors of today's King and Emperor penguins split off from the rest in pursuit of the abundant food supply of Antarctic waters. Today, different species of penguins can be found in very different environments, from the frigid polar landscape of Antarctica to the tropical region of the Galapagos Islands. And the study says how they got to such different places is still controversial.