Little penguins "divorce" their partners to search for better mates, but they waste so much time wooing their new love interests that the colony suffers, a new study has found.
There's a common misconception that penguins mate for life — their breeding behaviors are more complicated than that and vary between species. Little penguins (Eudyptula minor) often return to the same mate every breeding season, but some ditch their partners to seek new mates, which scientists call a "penguin divorce."
