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Penguin Pebble Envy

By j7uy5 on March 19, 2007.

i-ca6f5a65b8994ff5e9187a2e534f4bd4-penguins-big.jpg

href="http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/03/photogalleries/wip-week20/index.html">National
Geographic POD

face="Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif">Edinburgh,
Scotland, United Kingdom, March 13, 2007—For gentoo
penguins, it's all about who's got the best rocks. Like a human
offering jewelry, this gentoo male at the Edinburgh Zoo presents a
large pebble on Tuesday in hopes of winning over a female.



But
sometimes finding the flashiest gifts isn't enough. During the mating
season—which begins in March and lasts up to six
weeks—males suffering from "pebble envy" will steal the
best-looking rocks and pawn them off as their own.



The
pebbles will eventually become parts of the penguins'
nests—large circular piles of stone that can reach 8 inches
(20 centimeters) in height and 10 inches (25 centimeters) in diameter.



This is something that I understand completely.



i-fc31d1d802b4abb13b151428c967c2ac-gentoo-logo.jpg

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