The great auk

It was the only modern species in the genus Pinguinus. It is unrelated to the birds now known as penguins, which were discovered later and so named by sailors because of their physical resemblance to the great . An international team of scientists has met to discuss reintroducing the flightless marine birds onto the Farne islands off the north-east coast of England. Great auks belonged to the family Alcidae (order Charadriiformes).

How much do you know about the Great Auk , the penguin-like bird that went extinct in the 19th century?

Here are essential Great Auk facts.

Now, a team of scientists is hoping to bring them back.

People hunted it for meat and feathers. It grew rare, because it was too easy to kill, and the ones left could not breed fast enough to make up for the lost ones. It lived mostly in the water, . For centuries, the penguin-like birds were popular as meat and bait.

Their fat, eggs, and feathers were . A prehistoric form of great auk , Pinguinus alfrednewwni, is recorded from the Pliocene ( to million years ago) and other Pliocene flightless diving birds had wings even more penguin-like than those of the great auks. The oldest great auk remains, 70years ol were found at Gibraltar. Our Seabird Policy Officer, Rory Crawfor is back with another seabird saga. The great auk was generally an excellent swimmer, using . Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders. This fourth episode of the six-part series tells why the demise of the sea puffin- like bird had declined the life of the great auk in the 19th century.

This belongs to the corrected owner who made this documentary. Learn more about the Great auk - with amazing Great auk photos and facts on Arkive. Ang: Great Auk All: Riesenalk Esp: Alca Gigante Ita: Alca impenne. The Great Auks at Home, oil on canvas by John . In fact the Welsh name for them was pengwyn, the Spanish and Portuguese sailors called them pingüinos and the present-day penguins of the Southern Hemisphere were named for their resemblance to the Great Auk. All auks are expert divers which swim underwater using their wings, but the great auk had flipperlike wings, too short for flight.

It is probably true to say that the species . They were similar in overall appearance to their smaller relatives in the family Alcidae, but much larger and with greatly reduced wings, reflecting their flightlessness. A group of international scientists have met to discuss plans to bring back the great auk , a once common bird that has been dead for 2years. It bred on rocky, scattered islands with . It is thought that the species numbered many millions before man began to hunt it in earnest, but it is .