In the United States, the image of a normal family includes a mother, a father, 2.5 children, a dog and of course, a white picket fence. However, over the years, this image began to dissipate. To tell the truth, in recent years, there doesn't seem to be a normal family. Our culture increasingly supports adoption, divorce, interracial relationships, and even same-sex relationships. Despite this progress in equality, things are not as idyllic as they seem. Rather unspeakable acts, such as prostitution, domestic violence, child abuse and rape, have become all too common. However, none of these extremes (from unconditional love to absolute selfishness) are purely human phenomena. Other species also exhibit these behaviors. Studies have shown that voluntary adoption occurs, albeit intermittently, in baboons, chimpanzees, and other primates (Bardi, 2011, p. 8). On the other hand, coots are known to mistreat chicks when their food supply becomes too low (Bardi, 2011, p. 4). From such observations, we can conclude that humans do not differ as much from the rest of the animal kingdom as previously thought. Thesis Statement Movies such as Mary Poppins, Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town, Happy Feet, Surf's Up, and Madagascar have portrayed penguins as adorable, comical creatures with intelligent minds and adorable faces. Simply put: humans have idealized the penguin. Indeed, it is a well-known fact that most penguin species form faithful monogamous bonds, also known as lifelong mating. However, there are other facts about penguins that are largely unknown. For example, few people know that penguins have a body temperature between “100 and 102 degrees” Fahrenheit (Lynch, 1997, p. 35). When we remember that humans have a...... middle of paper ......guin, Aptenodytes forsteri [Electronic version]. Animal Behavior, 50(4), 1023-1028. Extracted from EBSCOhost. Lengagne, T., Jouventin, P. and Aubin, T. (1999, August). Finding your mate in a colony of king penguins: Effectiveness of acoustic communication [Electronic version]. Behavior, 136(7), 833-846. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.Lynch, W. (1997). Penguins of the world. Buffalo, NY: Firefly Books. Nico de Bruyn, PJ, Tosh, CA and Bester, MN (July 2008). Sexual harassment of a king penguin by an Antarctic fur seal. Journal of Ethology, 26(2), 295-297. doi:10.1007/s10164-007-0073-9Olsson, O., Bonnedahl, J. and Anker-Nilssen, P. (2001). Partner switching and copulation behavior in king penguins. Journal of Avian Biology, 32(2), 139. Retrieved from EBSCOhost. Zuk, M. (February 23, 2006). Family values ​​in black and white. Nature, 439(7079), 917. doi:10.1038/439917a.