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GROUP hugs stop Adélie penguin chicks from freezing to death,
according to Australian researchers. Ruth Lawless and her team at the Australian
Antarctic Division in Tasmania studied Adélie chicks on
Béchervaise Island in the Antarctic (Journal of Thermal Biology,
vol 26, p 555). They found that the more energy the chicks had to expend to keep
warm, the more likely they were to join crèches of up to 18 individuals.
Smaller chicks are particularly fond of a cuddle, because these tiny fluffy
bundles lose heat so much faster than older chicks.