Penguin taste test

By: Dori Jenkins

     These waddling birds love to chow down on fish; however, they can’t fully savor their favorite meal. The reason is, according to a new study, that penguins can’t taste bitter, sweet, or meaty flavors. Although, they may be able to taste two of the other five flavors that vertebrates can sense: salty and sour.                                                               

     Scientists from China and the U.S. discovered penguins’ lack of taste by looking at their genes. These units of hereditary material control what traits an organism will have. Different genes provide directions for making structures, called receptors, found on animals’ tongues. A sophomore at Seckman High School, Natalie Strieker, says, “I bet that if the researchers are discovering new things about the penguins traits, that they will be able to discover new traits about other similar animals as well.”                                                                                              

     Receptors work by sensing specific chemicals in food. They’re specially shaped so certain food molecules can fit into them like puzzle pieces. When the chemicals are detected, the receptors send a message to the brain telling it what flavors they taste. A junior at Seckman High School, Erica Lutker, says, “I think that if this is true with the penguin, then it will also be true for other animals like penguins.”  After scientists examined the genes of emperor penguins and found only working genes for salty and sour receptors, they started probing the genes of three other penguin species, Chinstraps, rockhoppers, and king penguins. They had the same missing genes. “The findings seem to indicate that a common ancestor to all penguins lost the genes for tasting bitter, sweet, and meaty flavors,” Jianzhi Zhang, a geneticist at the University of Michigan and lead researcher for the study says. The way taste receptors for these flavors send signals to the brain may not work in cold climates where the ancient birds lived.                          

     There’s another reason penguins may not have a very developed taste: they don’t chew their food. “Their behavior of swallowing food whole, and their tongue structure and function, suggest that penguins need no taste perception,” says Zhang.