Oxygen consumption (VO2), heart rate and blood chemistry were measured in four emperor penguins, Aptenodytes forsteri (Gray), during graded swimming exercise. The maximum VO2 obtained, 52 ml O2 kg-1 min-1, was 7.8 times the measured resting VO2 of 6.7 ml O2 kg-1 min-1 and 9.1 times the predicted resting VO2. As the swimming effort rose, a linear increase in surface and submerged heart rates (fH) occurred. The highest average maximum surface and submersion heart rates of any bird were 213 and 210 beats min-1, respectively. No increase in plasma lactate concentrations occurred until VO2 was greater than 25 ml O2 kg-1 min-1. At the highest VO2 values measured, plasma lactate concentration reached 9.4 mmol l-1. In comparison with other animals of approximately the same mass, the aerobic capacity of the emperor penguin is less than those of the emu and dog but about the same as those of the seal, sea lion and domestic goat. For aquatic animals, a low aerobic capacity seems to be consistent with the needs of parsimonious oxygen utilization while breath-holding.
Emperor penguin oxygen consumption, heart rate and plasma lactate levels during graded swimming exercise.
G L Kooyman, P J Ponganis; Emperor penguin oxygen consumption, heart rate and plasma lactate levels during graded swimming exercise.. J Exp Biol 1 October 1994; 195 (1): 199–209. doi: https://doi.org/10.1242/jeb.195.1.199
Download citation file:
Advertisement
Cited by
In the field: an interview with Sönke Johnsen
(update2)-SonkeJohnsen.jpg?versionId=3990)
Sönke Johnsen is a Professor at Duke University, USA, investigating visual ecology and he talks about his experiences of collecting transparent animals while blue water diving and in a submersible, as well as outrunning Hurricane Katrina.
Call for new preLighters
(update)-CallForPreLighters.png?versionId=3990)
preLights is the preprint highlighting community supported by The Company of Biologists. At the heart of preLights are our preLighters: early-career researchers who select and write about interesting new preprints for the research community. We are currently looking for new preLighters to join our team. Find out more and apply here.
Graham Scott in conversation with Big Biology

Graham Scott talks to Big Biology about the oxygen cascade in mice living on mountaintops, extreme environments for such small organisms. In this JEB-sponsored episode, they discuss the concept of symmorphosis and the evolution of the oxygen cascade.
Trap-jaw ants coordinate tendon and exoskeleton for perfect mandible arc
-AntJaws.png?versionId=3990)
Trap-jaw ants run the risk of tearing themselves apart when they fire off their mandibles, but Greg Sutton & co have discovered that the ants simultaneously push and pull the mandibles using energy stored in a head tendon and their exoskeleton to drive the jaws in a perfect arc.
Hearing without a tympanic ear
-Review.png?versionId=3990)
In their Review, Grace Capshaw, Jakob Christensen-Dalsgaard and Catherine Carr explore the mechanisms of hearing in extant atympanate vertebrates and the implications for the early evolution of tympanate hearing.