Great auk

The great auk was a chunky, flightless seabird that swam in the chilly North Atlantic. People sometimes called it a penguin, though it wasn’t related to the southern birds we know by that name today. Hunted to extinction by the 1850s, it was the last of its kind in its family.

• Its scientific name Pinguinus impennis means 'featherless penguin,' though it did have feathers.
• The great auk first appeared around 400,000 years ago.
• Humans hunted it for food and feathers until none were left.