User:HRCraig/sandbox: Difference between revisions

Adélie penguins are faced with extreme osmotic conditions, as their frozen habitats offer little fresh water<ref>1</ref>. Such desert conditions are known to force birds such as Adélie penguins to intake excess electrolytes through their diets<ref>2</ref>. Adélie penguins manage to circumvent this problem by eating krill whosewith internal concentrations of salt are at the lower end of their possible concentrations. The salt load imposed by this sort of diet is still relatively heavy, especially when considering the less tolerant chicks. Adult Adélie penguins feed their chicks by regurgitating the predigested krill, which can impose a heavy salt load on the chicks. Adult penguins address this problem by altering ion concentrations while the contents are still in their stomachs. By removing a portion of the sodium and potassium ions, adult Adélie penguins manage to protect their chicks from heavy salt loads<ref>1</ref>. The issues of salt loads is resolved even further by the ability of these penguins to concentrate their excretions to a much higher degree than most other birds. This ability is present regardless of ontogeny in Adélie penguins<ref>1</ref>. However, chicks do possess a greater ability to concentrate chloride ions in their cloacal fluids<ref>1</ref>.