Great Auk (Pinguinus impennis)

This, the only specimen of a Great Auk kept by the Museum, is probably the oldest one in the world. Specimens in other French, Belgian or Swiss museums were generally collected towards the beginning of the 19th century. That of the Strasbourg Museum was donated in 1776 by the famous zoologist Peter Simon Pallas to Jean Hermann, who built up the collections leading to the Museum's creation. Pallas was a scientist of international reputation. First appointed professor of natural history at the Imperial Academy of Sciences in Saint Petersburg, he was then elected an ordinary member in 1768.
The Great Auk has been extinct for more than 150 years. Abundant in the North Atlantic, it spent ten months of the year at sea. Only the need to reproduce in the spring led it to settle in coastal areas for a brief period of a few weeks. Flightless, nesting on the ground in large colonies, it was easily hunted by man for its meat, fat and eggs. The last couple was killed in 1844.