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The Great Auk

The Great Auk.jpg Central Asiatic Sandgrouse (Syrrhaptes paradoxus)ThumbnailsBird in tree frameCentral Asiatic Sandgrouse (Syrrhaptes paradoxus)ThumbnailsBird in tree frameCentral Asiatic Sandgrouse (Syrrhaptes paradoxus)ThumbnailsBird in tree frameCentral Asiatic Sandgrouse (Syrrhaptes paradoxus)ThumbnailsBird in tree frameCentral Asiatic Sandgrouse (Syrrhaptes paradoxus)ThumbnailsBird in tree frameCentral Asiatic Sandgrouse (Syrrhaptes paradoxus)ThumbnailsBird in tree frame

It is probable that the famous Great Auk (Alca impennis) also was a typical Arctic species. Its range extended to both sides of the Atlantic. In Newfoundland and on the coast of Iceland it is known to have been met with in considerable numbers within historic times; and no doubt, like all Arctic species, it extended farther southwards at a more remote period.