Today's featured article The Great Auk -- FEC

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Date Posted: 02:33:28 07/03/12 Tue
Author: July 3: Independence Day in Belarus (1944) (The plains zebra)
Subject:

Today's featured article The Great Auk

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Today's featured article
The Great Auk was a large, flightless alcid that became extinct in the mid-19th century. It lived in the North Atlantic, and bred on rocky, isolated islands with easy access to both the ocean and a plentiful food supply, a rarity in nature that provided only a few breeding sites for it. The Great Auk was 75 to 85 centimetres (30 to 33 in) tall and weighed around 5 kilograms (11 lb), making it the largest alcid. It had a black back and a white belly. The black beak was heavy and hooked with grooves on its surface. During summer, the Great Auk had a white patch over each eye. During winter, the auk lost this patch, instead developing a white band stretching between the eyes. The auk was a powerful swimmer, a trait that it used in hunting. Humans had hunted the Great Auk for more than 100,000 years, and by the 19th century, its growing rarity increased interest from European museums and private collectors in obtaining skins and eggs of the bird. The last two confirmed specimens were killed off the coast of Iceland on July 3, 1844. The last credible observation is from 1852. (more...)

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July 3: Independence Day in Belarus (1944)

987 – Hugh Capet was crowned King of France, becoming the first monarch of the Capetian dynasty, which ruled France continuously until overthrown during the French Revolution in 1792.
1608 – French explorer Samuel de Champlain founded Quebec City.
1778 – American Revolutionary War: Loyalists and Iroquois killed over 300 Patriots at the Battle of Wyoming in Pennsylvania.
1940 – Second World War: The British Navy attacked the French fleet (French destroyer Mogador pictured), fearing that the ships would fall into German hands after the armistice between those two nations.
1988 – United States Navy warship USS Vincennes shot down Iran Air Flight 655 over the Persian Gulf, killing all 290 people aboard.
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The plains zebra (Equus quagga, subspecies Grant's zebra pictured) is the most common and geographically widespread species of zebra. It ranges from the south of Ethiopia through East Africa to as far south as Angola and eastern South Africa. The plains zebra is mid-sized, smaller on average than the other two zebra species, and thick-bodied with relatively short legs. Adults of both sexes can stand from 1.1 to 1.47 m (3.6 to 4.8 ft) high at the shoulder, are 2 to 2.5 m (6.6 to 8.2 ft) long (excluding the tail), and weigh 175 to 387 kg (390 to 850 lb), with males slightly heavier than females.

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