89 views 1 person's favourite photo Photo Uploaded: Jun 30 2008 18:29:02 GMT Taken: 2008:06:17 15:18:05 Manufacturer: FUJIFILM Camera: FinePix S9500 Aperture: F5 Shutter: 10/13000 sec ISO: 100 Flash: No (Turned off) The statue Geirfugl in Reykjavík.
Bessastaðir, the residence of the President of Iceland in the background.
Geirfugl or The Great Auk, Pinguinus impennis, formerly of the genus Alca) is a bird that became extinct in the mid-19th century.
It was the only species in the genus Pinguinus, a group which included several flightless giant auks from the Atlantic, to survive until modern times.
It was also known as garefowl (from the Old Norse geirfugl, meaning "spear-bird", a reference to the shape of its beak), or penguin.
The last population lived on Geirfuglasker ("Great Auk Rock") off Iceland.
This island was a volcanic rock surrounded by cliffs which made it inaccessible to humans,
but in 1830 the rock submerged, and the birds moved to the nearby island Eldey which was accessible from a single side.
The last pair, found incubating an egg, were killed there on 3 July 1844.
Today, around 75 eggs of the Great Auk remain in museum collections, along with 24 complete skeletons and 81 mounted skins.
Info from Wikipedia. | |