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The Extinct Great Auk
The Great Auk inhabited the rocky coasts and islands of the North Atlantic from Virginia, Scotland, Shetland and Ireland to Greenland and Iceland, almost to the Arctic Circle. |
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Related to puffins and albatross the Great Auk was also known as Garefowl and Penguin |
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Henrik Gronvold |
Archibald Thorburn |
Natural History Museum |
F. Specht |
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The Great Auk's egg was almost 12 centimeters in length. A 17" screen set at 800 x 600 pixels resolution should approximate actual size. One hundred years ago almost one hundred specimens of the Great Auk's eggs were known to exist and were sold to enthusiastic collectors for as much as £300. |
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John James Audubon The Flightless Great Auk was hunted for food and its down and became extinct by the mid 1800s. |
