Great auk
Pinguinus impennis
The great auk (Pinguinus impennis), also known as the penguin or garefowl, is an extinct species of flightless alcid that first appeared around 400,000 years ago and was driven to extinction by human
About the Great auk
The great auk (Pinguinus impennis), also known as the penguin or garefowl, is an extinct species of flightless alcid that first appeared around 400,000 years ago and was driven to extinction by human exploitation in the mid-19th century. It was the only modern species in the genus Pinguinus. It was not closely related to the penguins of the Southern Hemisphere, which were named for their resemblance to this species. 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. During the non-breeding season, the auk foraged 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, I
Fun Facts About Great auk
- The wings were only 15 cm (6 in) long, rendering the bird flightless.
- The great auk (Pinguinus impennis), also known as the penguin or garefowl, is an extinct species of flightless alcid that first appeared around 400,000 years ago and was driven to extinction by human exploitation in the mid-19th century.
- The bird was about 75 centimetres (29.5 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).
- One burial discovered included a corpse covered by more than 200 great auk beaks, which are presumed to be the remnants of a cloak made of great auks' skins.
- They nested in extremely dense and social colonies, laying one egg on bare rock.
Conservation Status
The Great auk is classified as Extinct on the IUCN Red List.
Taxonomy & Classification
| Order | Charadriiformes |
| Family | Alcidae |
| Genus | Pinguinus |
| Species | Pinguinus impennis |
Range & Habitat
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Other species in the Alcidae family: