Penguin and Polar Bear Question

[Servant of Jesus]

Why are there penguins in Antarctica, and none in the Arctic; and polar bears in the Arctic and none in Antarctica?

Questions like this leave me cold.

 

[shernren]

Because that's how they evolved. Rawr.

Brown bears are a North American bear species, and polar bears evolved from them (recently, too - they are still interfertile, and a grizzly-polar hybrid has been shot in the wild), so it's no surprise that there are no polar bears in the Antarctic.

The earliest (proto-)penguin fossils are found in New Zealand, and thus they speciated all over the southern temperates. (Not very limited to Antarctica, by the way; I've seen penguins firsthand in Melbourne, and not on particularly cold days too.)

Go ask Wikipedia for more details. And I leave it to the resident creationists to come up with more YEC-friendly scenarios.

 

[Assyrian]

Why are there penguins in Antarctica, and none in the Arctic;

because there are polar bears in the Arctic...

and polar bears in the Arctic and none in Antarctica?

Questions like this leave me cold.

 

[The Barbarian]

Auks and puffins fill the penguin niche in the northern hemisphere. Seals of various sorts fill the polar bear niche in the Antarctic. Because there are no areas of substantial vegetation on land (and hence no larger herbivores) a land-based carnivore would be impossible.

 

[RobertByers]

After the flood creatures had to migrate from the Ark to everywhere.
In the first centuries it was warm everywhee and so indeed the south pole was filled with creatures. yet then came the cold and all died save a few who could survive. Penguins are one. they first were warm climate creatures.
The polar bears are just adapted southern bears. only since the ice age have they existed.
after the flood the arctic was a tropical place. Of coarse needed to allow the new world to be filled with all the creatures of the world. Today monkeys are one of the few remaining witnesses to this migration.

 

[mindlight]

Why are there penguins in Antarctica, and none in the Arctic; and polar bears in the Arctic and none in Antarctica?

Questions like this leave me cold.

Having watched "Happy Feet" I note overall these are very different habitats but some parts of both are similar.

Has anyone ever tried to establish a penguin colony at the North Pole or introduce polar bears to Antartica? Since the Antartican ice sheet is not receding would this save the Polar Bear from extinction? Whats the primary predator in Antartica anyway?

 

[Assyrian]

Isn't it the leopard seal? Of course if you are a fish you would probably think penguins. Whereas if you ask a krill...

Interesting article recently about species found in both the Arctic and Antarctic.
They call them bipolar

http://www.sciencenews.org/view/gen...census_Surprising_number_of_creatures_bipolar

 

[Chesterton]

Why are there penguins in Antarctica, and none in the Arctic; and polar bears in the Arctic and none in Antarctica?

Here's the deal:

Antarctica - there used to be both penguins and bears there. However, in those days, Antarctic penguins were 8 feet tall and had the leg musculature of bears. Antarctic bears were 2 feet tall and waddled. Thus a bear-less Antarctica.

The Arctic - during a normal, cyclical, temporary economic downturn, a prehistoric society of men living in Antarctica passed a huge stimulus package which bankrupted their treasury, forcing the humans to over-hunt everything smaller and slower than them to survive. Thus a penguin-less Arctic. (The stimulus package quickly led to full-blown socialism, and the humans soon had to migrate south in search of smarter humans, that's why there's no archaeological evidence of them remaining.)

 

[Assyrian]

Ah! Santa Claus was a socialist. Explains the red suit, the attempt to secularise Christmas and the wealth redistribution. Brilliant plan to get into the minds of the young too. Pity it just teaches them commercialism and greed. And as for conditions in his workshop...

 

[Chesterton]

Explains the red suit,...

And as for conditions in his workshop...

Yes, low wages = poor nutrition = stunted growth = Elves!

It's all thoroughly explained at my website Socialism Turns Us Into Elves.com.

(If the above link doesn't work it's because the current administration has pulled the plug to suppress this information.)

 

[Assyrian]

Yes, low wages = poor nutrition = stunted growth = Elves!

Not to be confused with Elvis...