I wouldn’t be surprised to find out that Opus is really the last surviving Great Auk that were called “penguins” first. A giant one died out because of human action.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/2016/08/19/plot-hatched-to-reintroduce-extinct-great-auk-to-british-shores/
*
Plot hatched to reintroduce extinct great auk to British shores
*“It’s British, it’s large and it’s dramatic looking – black and white.”
Other “de-extinction” projects already taking place include those to restore the woolly mammoth, passenger pigeon and heath hen.
In each case the extinct genomes have been thoroughly sequenced, along with the genomes of their closest living relatives.
Berkeley Breathed
I wouldn’t be surprised to find out that Opus is really the last surviving Great Auk that were called “penguins” first. A giant one died out because of human action.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/2016/08/19/plot-hatched-to-reintroduce-extinct-great-auk-to-british-shores/
*
Telegraph SciencePlot hatched to reintroduce extinct great auk to British shores
*“It’s British, it’s large and it’s dramatic looking – black and white.”
Other “de-extinction” projects already taking place include those to restore the woolly mammoth, passenger pigeon and heath hen.
In each case the extinct genomes have been thoroughly sequenced, along with the genomes of their closest living relatives.