P. impennis Skull replica or Great Auk measures 6.1 inches. P. impennis Skull replica is museum quality polyurethane cast. 2-part skull (separate cranium and jaw). Made in USA. Species is extinct.
The P. impennis or Great Auk was 30 to 33 inches tall and weighed about 11 pounds, making it the largest alcid to survive into the modern era, and the second-largest member of the alcid family overall.
It had a black back and a white belly. The black beak was heavy and hooked, with grooves on its surface.
During summer, great auk plumage showed a white patch over each eye. During winter, the great auk lost these patches, instead developing a white band stretching between the eyes.
The wings were only 6 in. long, rendering the bird flightless. Instead, the Great auk was a powerful swimmer, a trait that it used in hunting.
Its favorite prey were fish, including Atlantic menhaden and capelin, and crustaceans. Although agile in the water, it was clumsy on land.
Great auk pairs mated for life. They nested in extremely dense and social colonies, laying one egg on bare rock.
The egg was white with variable brown marbling. Both parents participated in the incubation of the egg for around six weeks before the young hatched.
The young left the nest site after two to three weeks, although the parents continued to care for it.
The Great auk was an important part of many Native American cultures, both as a food source and as a symbolic item. Many Maritime Archaic people were buried with Great auk bones.
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.
Early European explorers to the Americas used the Great auk as a convenient food source or as fishing bait, reducing its numbers.
The P. impennis or Great Auk bird’s down was in high demand in Europe, a factor that largely eliminated the European populations by the mid-16th century.
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.
Its growing rarity increased interest from European museums and private collectors in obtaining skins and eggs of the bird.
On 3 June 1844, the last two confirmed specimens were killed on Eldey, off the coast of Iceland, ending the last known breeding attempt.
Later reports of roaming individuals being seen or caught are unconfirmed. A record of one great auk in 1852 is considered by some to be the last sighting of a member of the species.
