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The word "penguin" first appears in the sixteenth century as a synonym for "great auk". [20] Although the etymology is debated, the generic name "penguin" may be derived from the Welsh pen gwyn "white head", either because the birds lived in New Brunswick on White Head Island (Pen Gwyn in Welsh) or because the great auk had such large white ...
The word penguin first appears in literature at the end of the 16th century as a synonym for the great auk. [11] When European explorers discovered what are today known as penguins in the Southern Hemisphere, they noticed their similar appearance to the great auk of the Northern Hemisphere and named them after this bird, although they are not ...
Auks are superficially similar to penguins, having black-and-white colours, upright posture, and some of their habits.Nevertheless, they are not closely related to penguins, but rather are believed to be an example of moderate convergent evolution.
This is a list of extinct animals of the British Isles, including extirpated species. Only a small number of the listed species are globally extinct (most famously the Irish elk, great auk and woolly mammoth). Most of the remainder survive to some extent outside the islands.
The great auk was a large flightless bird that lived in the Northern Hemisphere. It had a large, intricately grooved beak. When the first settlers arrived in Iceland, the auk population was probably in the millions. However, the settlers found the auks to be “very good and nourishing meat.”
It is the closest living relative of the extinct great auk (Pinguinus impennis). [4] Historically, it has also been known as "auk", [5] "razor-billed auk" [6] and "lesser auk". [7] Razorbills are primarily black with a white underside. The male and female are identical in plumage; however, males are generally larger than females.
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A taxidermized Great Auk The great auk (or, as it has been nicknamed, the “Penguin of the North”) was a flightless marine bird that inhabited the North Atlantic Ocean and its nearby islands. Its range once extended to the continental United States and Europe. [ 21 ]