“Collectable”, “exclusive”, “museum-quality”. These words are often thrown about by businesses online offering replicas of extinct animals or what remains of them. This sculpt of a great auk, by noted palaeoartist Matt Rameiri of Ancient Era Artistry is all of those things.
The great auk is our preferred outreach champion. Why?
One of the reasons the great auk went extinct was because in its final days, museums and amateur naturalists wanted the rare and charismatic bird for their taxidermy collections. The final push to collect these is widely considered to have been what tipped the birds’ dwindling, but still viable population toward the point of no return and extinction. To make matters worse, these collectors understood extinction, it was part of what drove their desire. When presented with this information and coupled with the fact that the North Atlantic could have also had “penguins”, our responsibility for the welfare of our world and consideration for future generations is driven home in a very poignant way.
Ironically, the great auk is quite rare in collectables circles. You would think being a widespread and charismatic species which went extinct more recently than the dodo, it would be more widely available.
Well, we’re here to change that.
Available in a transportable desktop and/or shelf friendly 1/5th scale (23cm high, 12cm wide and length at widest points for the base). This is well-paired with our great auk skull as props for talks and outreach.
Printed in resin at a stunning 16k resolution, Matt’s fine sculpting work makes individual feathers visible - the every scale of the webbing of the feet accounted for. This is museum quality. But unlike in the past, the rare and elusive great auk can be yours.
*Life-sized replica coming soon!
“Collectable”, “exclusive”, “museum-quality”. These words are often thrown about by businesses online offering replicas of extinct animals or what remains of them. This sculpt of a great auk, by noted palaeoartist Matt Rameiri of Ancient Era Artistry is all of those things.
The great auk is our preferred outreach champion. Why?
One of the reasons the great auk went extinct was because in its final days, museums and amateur naturalists wanted the rare and charismatic bird for their taxidermy collections. The final push to collect these is widely considered to have been what tipped the birds’ dwindling, but still viable population toward the point of no return and extinction. To make matters worse, these collectors understood extinction, it was part of what drove their desire. When presented with this information and coupled with the fact that the North Atlantic could have also had “penguins”, our responsibility for the welfare of our world and consideration for future generations is driven home in a very poignant way.
Ironically, the great auk is quite rare in collectables circles. You would think being a widespread and charismatic species which went extinct more recently than the dodo, it would be more widely available.
Well, we’re here to change that.
Available in a transportable desktop and/or shelf friendly 1/5th scale (23cm high, 12cm wide and length at widest points for the base). This is well-paired with our great auk skull as props for talks and outreach.
Printed in resin at a stunning 16k resolution, Matt’s fine sculpting work makes individual feathers visible - the every scale of the webbing of the feet accounted for. This is museum quality. But unlike in the past, the rare and elusive great auk can be yours.
*Life-sized replica coming soon!
