Dinopedia
Dinopedia
A Blast From The Past
5,578
pages
in: Aves, Holocene birds, Holocene Fauna,
and 25 more

Dodo

Sign in to edit
Dodo
Temporal range: Neogene to Late Quaternary (1662(?) AD)
A Dodo, by Ustad Mansur, presumably undergoing moulting
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Columbiformes
Family: Columbidae
Genus: †Raphus
Brisson, 1760
Species: R. cucullatus
Binomial name
Raphus cucullatus
Linnaeus, 1758

The Dodo (Raphus cucullatus) is a species of extinct flightless bird that was endemic to the island of Mauritius, a small island east of Madagascar in the Indian Ocean. The dodo's closest extinct relative is the also extinct Rodrigues Solitaire and its closest extant relative is the Nicobar pigeon. The two species formed the subfamily Raphinae, a clade of extinct flightless birds that were part of the family which includes pigeons and doves.

Description[]

Subfossil remains show the dodo was about 1 metre (3 ft 3 in) tall and may have weighed 10.6–21.1 kg (23–47 lb) in the wild. The dodo's appearance in life is evidenced only by drawings, paintings, and written accounts from the 17th century. 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. 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. One account states its clutch consisted of a single egg. 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.

Extinction[]

Although the dodo's extinction is most commonly attributed to overhunting by humans arriving on the island of Mauritius, the true reason of its extinction has more connections to the dodo's evolutionary history than to the recent history of humans arriving. The dodo evolved in complete isolation from any predator, which allowed it to grow large in expense for losing the sense of fear towards anything. With the arrival of humans into the island of Mauritius, invasive mammalian species such as rats, pigs, dogs, cats, and macaques were subsequently introduced. As a result of the dodo's fearlessness and inability to fly, they became vulnerable targets for the new predators on the island, with their eggs also becoming easy food sources for animals such as the pigs and macaques. In addition, Mauritius was inhabited by valuable hardwood trees, prompting a fast deforestation of the island, removing the dodo's natural habitat and only source of protection from their new predators. By 1662, the dodo was declared a fully extinct species.

In Pop Culture[]

  • It appears in the show, Wild Kratts.
  • The Dodo makes an appearance in the final episode of the 6 part PBS NATURE program Triumph of Life.
  • It appears, apparently, as a possible threat to a human in Disney's Phineas and Ferb.
  • A Dodo specimen was seen at a Museum exhibit “Extinction is Forever” in an episode of Batman the animated series “Catwalk”.
  • The Dodo makes a small appearance in Superman the animated series Season 1 The Main Man Part 2.
  • It also appears in most of the Ice Age films & games, as minor characters used for comedy and served as minor antagonists.
  • It also appears in the Science Fiction series Primeval as a comical appearance to introduce a bigger threat of another creature.
  • It also appears in David Attenborough's National History Museum Alive.
  • In the Harry Potter series, the Dodo is actually a magical creature called the Diricrawl that can vanish at will, making humans believe that it is extinct.
  • It appears in Alice in Wonderland.

Gallery[]

References[]

Community content is available under CC-BY-SA unless otherwise noted.