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Auks are birds of the
family Alcidae in the order Charadriiformes. They are superficially
similar to penguins due to their black-and-white colours, their
upright posture and some of their habits. Nevertheless they are
not related to the penguins at all, but considered by some to
be a product of moderate convergent evolution. (They are sometimes
humorously cited as the explanation why penguins do not exist
in the Northern Hemisphere.) In contrast to penguins, auks are
able to fly (with the exception of the extinct Great Auk). They
are good swimmers and divers, but their walking appears clumsy.
Due to their short wings auks have to flap their wings very fast
in order to fly. Auks live on the open sea. Only for breeding
do they go ashore, although some species, like the Common Guillemot,
spend a great part of the year defending their nesting spot from
others.
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Several species
have different names in Europe and North America. The guillemots
of Europe are murres in North America, if they occur in both continents,
and the Little Auk becomes the Dovekie. Some species, such as
the Uria guillemots nest in large colonies on cliff edges,others,
like the Cepphus guillemots breed in small groups on rocky coasts,
and the puffins, auklets and some murrelets nest in burrows. All
species except the Brachyramphus murrelets are colonial. Evolution
and distribution: The earliest fossil auks are from the Miocene,
15 MYA, although some fossils from the Eocene (25 MYA) have tentitavely
been placed as alcids. Miocene fossils have been found in both
California and Maryland, but the greater diversity of fossils
and tribes in the Pacific leads most scientists to conclude that
it was there they first evolved, and it is in the Miocene Pacific
that the first fossils of extant genera are found
The Above Images From U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service .
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