The fossil record (especially the sister species, Pinguinus alfrednewtoni) and molecular evidence show that the three closely related genera diverged soon after their common ancestor, a bird probably similar to a stout Xantus's murrelet, had spread to the coasts of the Atlantic. Due to its outward similarity to the razorbill (apart from flightlessness and size), the great auk often was placed in the genus Alca, following Linnaeus. The great auk also was related closely to the little auk or dovekie, which underwent a radically different evolution compared to Pinguinus. The great auk is mentioned in several novels, and the scientific journal of the American Ornithological Society was named The Auk (now Ornithology) in honour of the bird until 2021.įossil humerus of the Miocene relative Pinguinus alfrednewtoniĪnalysis of mtDNA sequences has confirmed morphological and biogeographical studies suggesting that the razorbill is the closest living relative of the great auk. A record of one great auk in 1852 is considered by some to be the last sighting of a member of the species. Later reports of roaming individuals being seen or caught are unconfirmed. On 3 June 1844, the last two confirmed specimens were killed on Eldey, off the coast of Iceland, ending the last known breeding attempt. Its growing rarity increased interest from European museums and private collectors in obtaining skins and eggs of the bird. Scientists soon began to realize that the great auk was disappearing and it became the beneficiary of many early environmental laws, but these proved ineffectual. The bird's down was in high demand in Europe, a factor that largely eliminated the European populations by the mid-16th century. Early European explorers to the Americas used the great auk as a convenient food source or as fishing bait, reducing its numbers.
One burial discovered included someone covered by more than 200 great auk beaks, which are presumed to be the remnants of a cloak made of great auks' skins. Many Maritime Archaic people were buried with great auk bones. The great auk was an important part of many Native American cultures, both as a food source and as a symbolic item. The young left the nest site after two–three weeks, although the parents continued to care for it. Both parents participated in the incubation of the egg for around six weeks before the young hatched. The egg was white with variable brown marbling. They nested in extremely dense and social colonies, laying one egg on bare rock. Although agile in the water, it was clumsy on land. Its favourite prey were fish, including Atlantic menhaden and capelin, and crustaceans. Instead, the great auk was a powerful swimmer, a trait that it used in hunting. The wings were only 15 cm (6 in) long, rendering the bird flightless. During winter, the great auk lost these patches, instead developing a white band stretching between the eyes.
ARK DODO PEN PATCH
During summer, great auk plumage showed a white patch over each eye. The black beak was heavy and hooked, with grooves on its surface. The bird was 75 to 85 centimetres (30 to 33 inches) tall and weighed about 5 kilograms (11 pounds), making it the largest alcid to survive into the modern era, and the second-largest member of the alcid family overall (the prehistoric Miomancalla was larger). When not breeding, they spent their time foraging in the waters of the North Atlantic, ranging as far south as northern Spain and along the coastlines of Canada, Greenland, Iceland, the Faroe Islands, Norway, Ireland, and Great Britain. It bred on rocky, remote islands with easy access to the ocean and a plentiful food supply, a rarity in nature that provided only a few breeding sites for the great auks. It is not closely related to the birds now known as penguins, which were discovered later by Europeans and so named by sailors because of their physical resemblance to the great auk. It was the only modern species in the genus Pinguinus.
The great auk ( Pinguinus impennis) is a species of flightless alcid that became extinct in the mid-19th century.
Mataeoptera impennis (Linnaeus, 1758) Gloger, 1842.Chenalopex impennis (Linnaeus, 1758) Vieillot, 1818.Pingouin impennis (Linnaeus, 1758) Buffon, 1817.Plautus impennis (Linnaeus, 1758) Brünnich, 1772.
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