Abstract
The great auk was once abundant and distributed across the North Atlantic. It is now extinct, having been heavily exploited for its eggs, meat, and feathers. We investigated the impact of human hunting on its demise by integrating genetic data, GPS-based ocean current data, and analyses of population viability. We sequenced complete mitochondrial genomes of 41 individuals from across the species' geographic range and reconstructed population structure and population dynamics throughout the Holocene. Taken together, our data do not provide any evidence that great auks were at risk of extinction prior to the onset of intensive human hunting in the early 16th century. In addition, our population viability analyses reveal that even if the great auk had not been under threat by environmental change, human hunting alone could have been sufficient to cause its extinction. Our results emphasise the vulnerability of even abundant and widespread species to intense and localised exploitation.
Highlights
The great auk (Pinguinus impennis) was a large, flightless diving bird thought to have once numbered in the millions (Birkhead, 1993)
If the great auk had been at risk of extinction prior to the onset of intensive human hunting, for example as a result of long-term suboptimal habitat or environmental change, we would expect to see genetic evidence of such stress, as for example observed in studies of cave bears (Stiller et al, 2010) and bison (Shapiro et al, 2004)
Our results are consistent with a rapid decline of great auks
Summary
The great auk (Pinguinus impennis) was a large, flightless diving bird thought to have once numbered in the millions (Birkhead, 1993). The archaeological and historical records show a long history of humans hunting great auks In prehistoric times, they were hunted for their meat and eggs by the Beothuk in North America (Fuller, 1999; Gaskell, 2000), the Inuit of Greenland (Meldgaard, 1988), Scandinavians (Hufthammer, 1982), Icelanders (Bengtson, 1984), in Britain (Best, 2013; Best and Mulville, 2016), Magdalenian hunter-gatherers in the Bay of Biscay (Laroulandie et al, 2016), and possibly even Neanderthals (Halliday, 1978). Towards the end of the 1700s, the development of commercial hunting for the feather trade intensified exploitation levels (Fuller, 1999; Gaskell, 2000; Kirkham and Montevecchi, 1982) As their rarity increased, great auk specimens and eggs became desirable for private and institutional collections. The last reliably recorded breeding pair were killed in June 1844 on Eldey Island, Iceland, to be added to a museum collection (Bengtson, 1984; Fuller, 1999; Gaskell, 2000; Grieve, 1885; Newton, 1861; Steenstrup, 1855; Thomas et al, 2017)
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