[The Past and present of La Salle County, Illinois : containing a history of the county, its cities, towns, &c., a biographical directory of its citizens, war record of its volunteers in the late rebellion, portraits of early settlers and prominent men, general and local statistics, map of La Salle County, history of Illinois, Constitution of the United States, miscellaneous matters, etc, etc..
The great auk was 75 to 85 centimetres (30 to 33 in) tall and weighed around 5 kilograms (11 lb) The size of a medium penguin, it lived in the open ocean except for when it waddled ashore for breeding on just a few islands.
In some parts of the world, personal wealth is still measured in head of cattle. THE AUROCHS. The ancestor of the domestic cattle that we see grazing in fields was called the Aurochs. It lived in Europe, Asia, and North Africa, but is now extinct. An adult stood about 2 meters (6.6 feet) tall at the shoulder and weighed in at 1,000 kilograms (2,200 lbs), so it was much bigger than a modern bull.