![]() ![]() The last widely accepted sighting of a dodo was in 1662. In the following years, the bird was hunted by sailors and invasive species, while its habitat was being destroyed. The first recorded mention of the dodo was by Dutch sailors in 1598. The flightless dodo bird made an easy meal for a hungry sailor ![]() It is presumed that the dodo became flightless because of the ready availability of abundant food sources and a relative absence of predators on Mauritius. One account states its clutch consisted of a single egg. It used gizzard stones to help digest its food, which is thought to have included fruits, and its main habitat is believed to have been the woods in the drier coastal areas of Mauritius. It has been depicted with brownish-grey plumage, yellow feet, a tuft of tail feathers, a grey, naked head, and a black, yellow, and green beak. Though the dodo has historically been considered fat and clumsy, it is now thought to have been well-adapted for its ecosystem. The dodo's appearance in life is evidenced only by drawings, paintings, and written accounts from the 17th century.īecause these vary considerably, and because only some illustrations are known to have been drawn from live specimens, its exact appearance in life remains unresolved, and little is known about its behavior. Subfossil remains show the dodo was about 3 ft 3 in tall and may have weighed 23–47 lbs. A white dodo was once thought to have existed on the nearby island of Réunion, but this is now thought to have been confusion based on the Réunion ibis and paintings of white dodos. The closest living relative of the dodo is the Nicobar pigeon. The dodo's closest genetic relative was the also extinct Rodrigues solitaire, the two forming the subfamily Raphinae of the family of pigeons and doves. The dodo (Raphus cucullatus) is an extinct flightless bird that was endemic to the island of Mauritius, east of Madagascar in the Indian Ocean. Summer's Auction House director Rupert van der Werff set the guide price for the skeleton to be auctioned Tuesday in Billinghurst is estimated to be between 300,000-500,000 pounds ($373,630 to $622,780), noting that interest in the composite skeleton, was high. Sailors hunted the dodo into extinction in the 17th century and it has come to symbolize the harsh impact man can have on the world's ecosystem. The bird's name recognition was enhanced by Lewis Carroll, who included a dodo in "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland." Adult Dodo birds were the size of a German Shepherd dog. The rare bird was extirpated by hungry sailors in its native New Zealand during the 1700's. Mr Dodgson's pen name was Lewis Carroll and among the children he brought along was a girl named Alice.A Billinghurst, England auction of a Dodo bird skeleton garnered $416,000. This dodo would inspire Mr Dodgson to create a character of a dodo in a new children's book. In the years that followed, countless people saw the dodo at the Oxford museum.Īmong them was a maths lecturer by the name of Charles Dodgson, who would bring his friend's children on visits to the collection. Musaeum Tradescantianum housed all manner of curiosities - including the then-deceased dodo - which were later gifted to Oxford University. The Tradescant family, in addition to being gardeners for royalty, also set up the first public museum in England. The Mauritian Wildlife Foundation's Mr Tatayah says, "the dodo that was on show in London is most probably the one that the Tradescant family acquired." This included a dead bird which he called a "dodar from the island of Mauritius" which "is not able to flie being so big." ![]() John Tradescant, the gardener to King Charles II, collected natural curiosities. ![]()
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