The last recorded sighting of the bird, now known as the dodo, was in 1662. Many bones of solitaires have also been preserved. Dodo Temporal range: HoloceneĪll that remains of the dodo is a head and foot at Oxford, a foot in the British Museum, a head in Copenhagen, and skeletons, more or less complete, in various museums of Europe, the United States, and Mauritius. The dodo (Raphus cucullatus) is an extinct flightless bird that was endemic to the island of Mauritius, which is east of Madagascar in the Indian Ocean….Dodo. The cause of the dodo’s extinction is not entirely clear. The dodo is a close relative of modern pigeons and doves. There aren’t any dodos around anymore, but there are a whole lot of other interesting creatures.The dodo, which is now extinct, lived on fruit and nested on the ground. This study has increased our knowledge of the dodo quite a bit but if there is one thing that dodos can teach us it’s this: let’s have more respect for our fellow species and take care not to drive them to extinction – for their sake and for ours. With men hunting the birds and scavengers taking their eggs, the dodo’s time on Earth was up. Dodos laid their eggs on the ground where they were easily taken by opportunists like foraging pigs and rats. Hunting was the main peril they faced but there were other problems too. Their peaceful lives came to an abrupt end when explorers happened upon their island. After our appearance though, a long childhood became a hindrance to the dodo. And, before humans arrived, dodos enjoyed the same advantage. We humans can do it because we have few, if any, natural predators. Most become adults very quickly so that they can reproduce and continue the species. An extended childhood is a luxury few animals can afford. Small birds would be tossed about by the strong winds so size and strength were a must.Īnother finding was that dodos, though the size of adults, remained sexually immature for several years. Dodo eggs hatched in August and, from studying growth patterns in the bones, scientists discovered that the youngsters reached adult size in just a few months – no mean feat when you consider that dodos were a metre tall! Rapid growth was important as powerful cyclones are an annual feature on Mauritius, the animals’ home. You may think there’s not much that bones can tell you but you’d be surprised. Researchers at South Africa’s Cape Town University have gained access to 22 of these bones and found out a bit more about the dodo. Hundreds of dodo bones have sat gathering dust in museums for centuries. But a recent study has been done into the life of this unfortunate bird. It’s hard to study extinct animals so we know very little about the dodo. One of the most recent victims was the dodo which died out 350 years ago, just 100 years after we found it. After the last ice age, animals that couldn’t adapt to live alongside us were wiped out, mostly by our hunting them or us clearing their habitat. It started 10,000 years ago and is caused by us humans. Not many people know, but we are currently going through the sixth mass extinction. Over the course of the planet’s 4 billion year history, there have been just six – the most famous onewiping out the dinosaurs 66 million years ago. Mass extinctions are thankfully very rare. 99% of all species that have ever existed on Earth are no more. There are more extinct animals than there are species alive today – a lot more.
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