Penguin

2013-08-27T12:36:15Z

79.8.4.144: added link to the italian page

{{unref}}
'''Penguins''' (order ''Sphenisciformes'', family ''Spheniscidae'') are a group of aquatic, flightless [[bird]]s living almost exclusively in the southern hemisphere. Highly adapted for life in the water, penguins have countershaded dark and white plumage, and their [[wings]] have become flippers. Most penguins feed on krill, [[fish]], squid, and other forms of sealife caught while swimming underwater. They spend about half of their life on land and half in the oceans.

==In popular culture==

Penguins are popular around the world, primarily for their unusually upright, waddling gait and (compared to other birds) lack of fear of [[human]]s. Their striking black-and-white plumage is often likened to a tuxedo suit. Mistakenly, some artists and writers have penguins based at the North Pole. This is incorrect, as there are almost no wild penguins in the northern hemisphere, except the small group on the northernmost of the Galápagos. The cartoon series Chilly Willy helped perpetuate this myth, as the title penguin would interact with northern-hemisphere species such as [[polar bear]]s and [[Wikipedia:Walrus|walrus]]es.

Penguins have been the subject of many books and films such as [[Happy Feet]] and [[Surf's Up]], both CGI films; March of the Penguins, a documentary based on the migration process of Emperors; and a parody entitled Farce of the Penguins. Penguins have also found their way into a number of cartoons and television dramas; perhaps the most notable of these is [[Pingu]], created by Silvio Mazzola in 1986 and covering more than 100 short episodes.

A penguin named [[Tux]] is the [[mascot]] for Linux.

The tendency of penguins to form large groups feeds the stereotype that they all look exactly alike, a popular notion exploited by cartoonists such as [[Gary Larson]]. Penguins featured regularly in the cartoons of UK cartoonist Steve Bell in his strip in The Guardian Newspaper, particularly during and following the Falklands War.

In the mid-2000s, penguins became one of the most publicized species of animals that form lasting [[homosexual]] couples. A children's book, And Tango Makes Three, was written about one such penguin family in the New York [[Zoo]].

{{Wikipedia|Penguin}}
[[Category:Bird species]]

[[it:pinguino]]
[[ru:Пингвины]]
[[zh:企鹅]]

Crocodile

2013-08-27T12:02:08Z

79.8.4.144: added link to the italian page

{{Unreferenced}}

[[Image:Nile_crocodile.jpg|right|thumb|Crocodiles]]The '''crocodile''', referring primarily to certain members of the taxonomic family ''Crocodilidae'', is among the world's largest reptiles and a carnivore. Fossil evidence places crocodiles contemporary with the [[dinosaur|dinosaurs]], and they are certainly well-known throughout human history.

== The animal ==
As a group, crocodiles also include the alligators, caimans, and gavials, but the reptile referred to specifically by the name ''crocodile'' is distinguished primarily by body size and the shape of its snout, which is sharper than that of the alligator but broader than that of the gavial. (One mnemonic method for distinguishing the alligator from the crocodile is that the alligator's snout is C-shaped and the crocodile's is A-shaped.) Crocodiles are native to warm, marshy areas in the Middle East and South Asia, although they have been imported abroad to [[zoo]]s as well as "crocodile farms" which are well-known for the sport of crocodile wrestling in places such as Thailand and Australia.

Crocodiles have a rather unpublicized ability to belch, which some have supposed could account for the origins of the legendary fire-breathing [[dragon|dragons]].

== Characterizations ==
Based on the description of the [[Wikipedia:Leviathan|Leviathan]], mentioned in Job chapter 41, some scholars believe it is a reference to some kind of crocodile.

One of the best-known crocodiles in literature, the Mugger of Mugger-Ghaut, who appeared in the story ''The Undertakers'' from the Second [[Jungle Book]] by Rudyard Kipling, was unfortunately an old villain whose pride and inability to change with the times brought him to a poetic death at the hand of a man whom he had failed to kill as a boy.

Another famous crocodile is from [[Wikipedia:Peter Pan|Peter Pan]] who was the one responsible for Captain Hook's missing hand and remained in constant pursuit for the rest of the pirate. The crocodile was known for swallowing a lot of other things, including an alarm clock, whose ticking was the only thing that warned Hook of the croc's impending approach. This was responsible for many of Pan's narrow escapes.

Crocodiles are rather difficult to find as [[character|characters]], because of their confusion or association with the related alligators, but they tend to be villains, such as Croc from [[Disney]]'s [[Wuzzles]] TV series.

A couple of known contemporary crocodile characters are [[Carnival]] and [[Drcroc]].

[[Category:Reptile species]]
[[it:Coccodrillo]]

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Penguin

Crocodile