Penguins caught on camera eating
jellyfish
Date: September 25, 2017
Source: Ecological Society of America
Footage from penguin-mounted mini
video recorders shows four species of penguin eating jellyfish and other
gelatinous animals of the open ocean, a food source penguins were not
previously believed to partake of, scientists report this month in the
Ecological Society of America's peer-reviewed journal Frontiers in Ecology
and the Environment. The article, part of the October issue of the journal, is
available online ahead of print.
Video logs confirmed that
penguins targeted gelatinous animals for meals; the birds did not merely ingest
them accidentally, while aiming for fish or other prey. Connecting this link in
the food web helps ecologists understand the ecological niche of
"gelata," a group the authors have defined based on shared gelatinous
physique and ocean habitat, though it includes organisms from very different
branches of the tree of life
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