King Penguins are notorious for their prim, tuxedoed appearance--but a recently discovered all-black penguin seems unafraid to defy convention. In what has been described as a "one in a zillion kind of mutation," biologists say that the animal has lost control of it's pigmentation, an occurrence that is extremely rare. Other than the penguin's monochromatic outfit, the animal appears to be perfectly healthy--and then some. "Look at the size of those legs," said one scientist, "It's an absolute monster."
The underdressed penguin was photographed by Andrew Evans of National Geographic on the island of South Georgia, near Antarctica. As the picture circulated, some biologists were taken aback--including Dr. Allan Baker of the University of Toronto. His first response was disbelief: Wow. That looks so bizarre I can't even believe it.
While multi-colored birds will often show some variation, Dr. Baker explains that what makes the all-black King Penguin so rare is that the bird's melanin deposits have occurred where they are typically not present--enough so that no light feathers even checker the bird's normally white chest.
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