Science shows that penguins move like cars in traffic [video]

Scientific studies have been concerned with analyzing different aspects of penguin behavior, but so far researchers have not yet looked into these animals when they are grouped.

To understand how the dynamics of penguin groups work, researcher Daniel Zitterbart and his team at the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research in Germany filmed the groups a few years ago and analyzed the movement of each animal individually.

Interestingly, they found that the simple step of one bird is enough to trigger the movement of the other penguins as if it were a wave. “We have no idea how to describe these waves. We wanted to know how and where they start within the group and how they spread, ”explains Zitterbart according to the New Scientist.

To look for these answers, the team applied a mathematical model often used to study traffic jams. The researchers found that the model can predict the step-by-step movements of individual penguins within the group, just as it is possible to predict how cars move through a traffic jam.

Also, it is interesting to note that, unlike other species, male penguins are responsible for caring for eggs during the incubation period. In this way, these groups are only males, which come together to maintain the warmth their eggs need during the Antarctic winter.