Auk

Many Maritime Archaic people were buried with great auk bones, and one was buried covered in over 200 auk beaks, which are assumed to have been part of a cloak made of their skins.

Pinguinus alfrednewtoni lived in the western Atlantic while the great auk lived in the eastern Atlantic, but after the former died out after the Pliocene, the great auk replaced it.

We’ve already managed to sequence the DNA genomes of many extinct species, including the great auk.

However, the seasonally shifting zone where the ice ended and the open ocean began would have been extremely rich in food resources – migrating seals, sea birds, fish and the now-extinct northern hemisphere penguin-like species, the great auk.

The interior of a prayer hall in Nar Auk’s temple.

A captive auk was observed making a gurgling noise when anxious.

Barr, pp.83–184 "The Auk", as he was known, appointed a number of senior commanders who proved to be unsuitable for their positions, and command arrangements were often characterised by bitter personality clashes.

Believing that the auk was a witch and the cause of the storm, they then killed it by beating it with a stick.

Cokinos 2000, p. 314 Native Americans valued the great auk as a food source during the winter and as an important symbol.

Crofford 1989, p. 15 The auk appeared chubby due to a thick layer of fat necessary for warmth.

Crofford 1989, p. 28 During summer, the great auk developed a wide white eye patch over the eye, which had a hazel or chestnut iris.

Crofford 1989, p. 32 In years when there was a shortage of food, the auk did not breed.

Due to its outward similarity to the razorbill (apart from flightlessness and size), the great auk was often placed in the genus Alca, following Linnaeus.

During summer, the great auk's plumage showed a white patch over each eye.

During the summer, the auk's chin and throat were blackish-brown, and the inside of the mouth was yellow.

During the winter, the great auk migrated south either in pairs or in small groups, and never with the entire nesting colony.

During winter, the auk lost these patches, instead developing a white band stretching between the eyes.

Early European explorers to the Americas used the auk as a convenient food source or as fishing bait, reducing its numbers.

Images of the great auk have been found in bone necklaces.

Instead, the auk was a powerful swimmer, a trait that it used in hunting.