Question

Male Emperor penguins spend the coldest month in Antarctica incubating their eggs. When the chicks hatch they still have to be protected from the extreme cold temperatures. Explain why this is actually beneficial to the survival of the species versus laying the eggs during the summer months.

Answer 1

Natural selection. In this way the weaker chicks can not survive the cold and die while the chicks with stronger gene carry on.

Answer 2

I believe this phenomenon will make the chicks become stronger.

By directly exposing them to the cold, the penguins help the chick to adapt faster to the cold environment and make them able to survive the following extreme low temperature

hope this helps