Penguins have special morphological structure and special physiological functions to adapt to low temperature. Penguins are covered with feathers. Look carefully, this feather can be divided into two layers, the outer layer is a slender tubular structure; The inner layer is fine fluff. Both of them are good thermal insulation structures, which can not only prevent the invasion of cold air from the outside, but also prevent the heat loss of internal energy. The villus can absorb and store weak infrared energy, which can be used to maintain body temperature and resist cold. The thick fat layer in penguins is about 3 ~ 4 cm, especially those king penguins with big bellies. The fat layer is the main energy for penguins to move, keep their body temperature and resist the cold. Penguins don't eat or drink when they are pregnant and hatching eggs, that is, they consume their own fat layer. When male penguins hatch eggs, the fat layer consumes 90%.

Maintaining low metabolic level is a physiological function of penguins to adapt to low temperature. In order to find out the metabolic rate of penguins, scientists measured the amount of oxygen absorbed and the amount of carbon dioxide exhaled by penguins at different temperatures. The results show that the energy consumed by penguins is almost constant in the temperature range of 23 ~-25 degrees.

Penguins are warm-blooded animals, and their body temperature is constant, usually around 37 degrees. However, sometimes there will be different body temperatures, that is, the temperature of the body is higher than that of the feet, which is an adaptive ability to prevent body temperature loss, because the feet usually stand on the ice and snow with lower temperature, which can reduce the speed of heat loss.

In addition, penguins change their feathers once a year, which is also one of the measures to adapt to the environment. From September to 10 every year, penguins begin to shed their hair, and its way of shedding hair is very simple and unique. New hair keeps growing and old hair is pushed away. When the old hair is peeled off, the new feathers have grown together, and winter has come. Penguins change their feathers gradually, which is better than one-off replacement, and avoids the danger of freezing to death due to changing their feathers.