Great Auk Skulls Replicas Models

Description

Great Auk Skulls Replicas Models measures 156 mm or 6.1 inches. The Great Auk Skulls Replicas Models is Museum quality polyurethane cast made in USA.

The great auk (Pinguinus impennis) is a species of flightless alcid that became extinct in the mid-19th century. It was the only modern species in the genus Pinguinus. It is not closely related to the birds now known as penguins, which were discovered later and so named by sailors because of their physical resemblance to the great auk.

It bred on rocky, isolated 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.

The great auk was 30 to 33 in. tall and weighed about 11 lbs., 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 5.9 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, 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 6 weeks before the young hatched. The young left the nest site after 2–3 weeks, although the parents continued to care for it.

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