The extinction of the dodo (Raphus cucullatus L.; Fig. 1) is commonly dated to the last confirmed sighting in 1662, reported by Volkert Evertsz on an islet off Mauritius1,2. By this time, the dodo had become extremely rare the previous sighting having been 24 years earlier but the species probably persisted unseen beyond this date. Here we use a statistical method to establish the actual extinction time of the dodo as 1690, almost 30 years after its most recent sighting.
Its last confirmed sighting was in 1662, although an escaped slave claimed to have seen the bird as recently as 1674. In fact, it is estimated by using a Weibull distribution method that the dodo may have persisted until 1690, almost 30 years after its presumed extinction date. Although gone forever, the dodos lumbering appearance in Lewis Carrolls Alices Adventures in Wonderland has ensured that it will not be forgotten.
Contemporary depictions Compilation of the
The travel journal of the Dutch ship Gelderland (16011603), which was found again in the 1860s, has the only known drawings of specimens that are alive or have recently died on Mauritius. They have been credited to two artists: a less accomplished one and professional Joris Joostensz Laerle, who drew other extinct Mauritian birds. [46] Aside from these drawings, the authenticity of the roughly twenty 17th-century depictions of the dodos is uncertain because it is unclear how many of them were created from stuffed specimens or from life. [22] As dodos are only known from scant physical remains and descriptions, it is crucial to reconstruct their lifelike appearance through contemporary artwork. Even though efforts have been made since the middle of the 19th century to compile a list of all historical dodo illustrations, new images are still being found on a regular basis. [47].
The dodo is typically portrayed as an extremely chubby and ungainly bird, however this perception might be overstated. Scientists today generally agree that many historical European representations were based on overfed captive birds or shoddily stuffed specimens. [48] It has also been proposed that the s may exhibit puffy feathered dodos as a form of display behavior. [40] With at least twelve illustrations, the Dutch painter Roelant Savery was the most prolific and significant illustrator of the dodo, frequently placing it in the lower corners. His well-known 1626 painting, known as Edwardss Dodo because it was formerly owned by ornithologist George Edwards, has come to represent the dodo. It is housed in the Natural History Museum, London. The is the source of numerous additional dodo illustrations and features an exceptionally plump bird. [49][50] The famous.
Every representation created after 1638 seems to have been based on earlier ones, at the time when reports of dodos became less common. Ornithologists like Anthonie Cornelis Oudemans and Masauji Hachisuka conjectured about sexual dimorphism, ontogenic traits, seasonal variation, and even the existence of distinct species due to differences in the depictions; however, these theories are not accepted today. It is impossible to pinpoint the precise morphology of these features, whether they indicate age or sex, or even if they accurately reflect reality, because characteristics like the coloration, shape of the tail feathers, and beak markings differ from account to account. Hume contended that, as evidenced by the Gelderland, Cornelis Saftleven, Saverys Crocker Art Gallery, and Mansur’s noses, the nostrils of the living dodo would have been slits. This assertion states that paintings’ prominently gaping nostrils suggest that models were taxidermy specimens. [22] The majority of representations indicate that the wings were held outward, which is different from flying pigeons but comparable to ratites like ostriches and kiwis. [20].
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- Julian Pender Hume
- David M. Martill
- Christopher Dewdney
Reproduction and development Replica of an alleged dodo egg in a reconstructed nest,
The dodo most likely nested on the ground because it was a terrestrial, flightless bird and there were no mammalian predators or other natural enemies on Mauritius. The egg and the call are only described in François Cauche’s 1651 account:
The problem with Cauches account is that it also states that the bird he was describing, unlike dodos, had three toes and no tongue. Because of this, some people thought Cauche was describing a brand-new dodo species called “Didus nazarenus.” The description most likely blended in with a cassowary’s, and Cauches’s writings contain other contradictions. The other mention of a possible juvenile dodo is in 1617, when a “young ostrich” was taken aboard a ship. An egg purportedly belonging to a dodo is kept in the South African East London Museum. Marjorie Courtenay-Latimer, a museum official in South Africa, gave it to the museum. Her great-aunt had gotten it from a captain who said he had discovered it in a Mauritius swamp. The museum’s curator suggested employing genetic research in 2010 to ascertain its legitimacy. [78] It may instead be an aberrant ostrich egg. [31].
It has been suggested that the dodo was K-selected, meaning that it produced few altricial offspring who needed parental care until they matured, due to the bird’s large size and potential for a single-egg clutch. Given their size and the slower growth rates of tropical and frugivorous birds, some evidence suggests that the bird may have undergone a lengthy period of development. [38] The absence of juvenile dodos in the Mare aux Songes swamp could mean that the breeding grounds were far from the swamp, that they matured quickly, that there was a seasonal risk of miring, or any combination of these factors. [79].
In order to learn more about the life history of the dodo, a 2017 study looked at the histology of thin-sectioned dodo bones, contemporary accounts, local ecology, and modern Mauritian birds. According to the study, dodos bred in August after possibly gaining weight, which is consistent with the cycles of fat and thin seen in many Mauritius vertebrates. The chicks grew quickly, reaching sexual maturity and robust, nearly adult sizes before the cyclone season or Austral summer. Following the Austral summer, adult dodos that had just bred moulted in March. The moulting process would have finished by the end of July, in time for the upcoming breeding season, with the replacement of the wings and tail feathers occurring first. Distinct phases of moulting could potentially explain discrepancies in current depictions of dodo feathers. [80].
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