A rare egg belonging to a flightless bird which has been extinct for more than 150 years has gone on display at a museum in Liverpool.

The egg, from a Great Auk, has been in the World Museum Liverpool's collection since the 1850s but this is the first time it has ever gone on display.

There are believed to be just 75 eggs from the species left in the world.

The bird, which was killed for its oil, feathers and eggs, used to live on both sides of the Atlantic.

The last breeding pair was spotted in 1844 by three sailors on a rocky outcrop on the island of Eldey off Iceland. The last recorded sighting was in Newfoundland in 1852.

Clem Fisher, the museum's curator of vertebrate zoology, said: "This egg was collected long ago when nature conservation was virtually unknown, and is a stark reminder that whole species can disappear in this way.
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What an absolutely beautiful egg, the markings are incredible. I'm wondering what it's size is as it looks rather big. Nice find

Lol imagine squeezing that out of ya .. Good job to those birds.. xD.

Cool looking egg though.

It looks like Jackson Pollock got a hold of it.

i wonder if those eggs holed enough DNA to hopefully one day resurrect the species?

They would have thoroughly drained the egg. I'm also not sure what, if anything, scientists could obtain from the shell. I doubt they'd try even if anything could be obtained. Its too destructive. The shells are rare and therefore very precious. I don't see a need to resurrect any species.