Ecology
“Marriages” in the animal kingdom are only rarely monogamous, but how could it be otherwise, because the life cycle of many living beings is too short to constantly look for an old partner, and mortality is too short high to be loyal to the same partners. However, there are exceptions, and some of them are among penguins.
New research has found that Magellanic penguins are among the most devoted lovers in the animal world. Scientists who have been observing birds for 30 years have used satellite tracking systems to find that partners in Magellanic penguin pairs remain loyal to to each other for many years, despite the fact that they may be thousands of kilometers away during their winter trips.
The researchers placed metal rings on the paws of 50,000 penguins who live on the southern coast of Argentina. Previously, scientists believed that partners could be together for a maximum of 10 years, which is due to the fact that many birds die during migrations. However, scientists were surprised by the length of the relationship between one pair of penguins, who “lived” side by side for 16 years.
“The connection between these birds is incredible,” said Dr Pablo Garcia Borboroglu, head of the research, from the National Research Council of Argentina. It's amazing that these birds migrate long distances and then return to the same nest every mating season to the same partner.”
The longest marriage in the animal kingdom
Bibi and Poldy, turtles from Australia's reptile zoo, lived together for 36 years before deciding to “divorce”. Turtles, of course, live a long time, and Bibi and Poldy were 115 at the time of the divorce. This is already quite old, although this species can live for about 150 years.