Dodo

Dodos may have become synonymous with stupidity in pop culture, but these birds adapted and survived over millions of years in the relatively harsh environment of Mauritius. If anything doomed the dodo, it was an unfortunate victim of circumstance. After years of merciless hunting by humans and introduced species, the dodo went extinct around 1688. Most of what we know about the dodo comes from contemporary accounts and modern studies of its anatomy. A few specimens were brought back to Europe, which inadvertently helped to preserve the bones and soft tissue for study.

An Amazing Bird: 3 Dodo Facts

• The dodo bird became quite popular all around the world after it appeared as a minor character in chapters two and three of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. In the book, the dodo starts a kind of free-for-all race where everyone is a winner by design. It is believed that the character was a stand-in for Lewis Carroll himself.
• Although the dodo acquired a reputation for clumsiness, studies of its anatomy suggest that it was actually capable of running at high speeds.
• The origin of the word dodo is unclear. It might have come from the Dutch words for sluggard (the Dutch also referred to it as a wallowbird). Another potential source is the Portuguese word for crazy, fool, or simpleton. Regardless of its origin, the word dodo had already entered the English language by the early 1600s.

Habitat and Evolution

When it was still alive, the dodo bird lived a solitary existence on the island habitat of Mauritius in the Indian Ocean, about 500 miles directly east of Madagascar. At the time, Mauritius was heavily covered in forests, so the dodo was likely adapted for life around dense foliage. The island was completely uninhabited by the time European sailors arrived, so it is possible they were the first humans to ever catch sight of a dodo.

Based on contemporary accounts, the dodo built its nest on the ground and surrounded it with grass. This also made them very vulnerable to feral mammals introduced to the island. Dodos more than likely only laid one egg at a time, so each egg lost to predators would be devastating for the population.

Since the island was a hotspot for tropical storms, the dodo had to evolve to be able to withstand the harsh winds by staying low to the ground and raising its young quickly before the stormy season. This meant heaviness and stability became more important to the dodo than flying.

Classification and Scientific Name

The scientific name of the dodo is Raphus cucullatus. This scientific name is derived from the Latin word cucullus for hood, perhaps a reference to the cowl-like head. The dodo was closely related to the solitaire birds of Rodrigues and Reunion, residing to the east and west of Mauritius. These species went extinct around the same time as the dodo. Most taxonomists consider the dodo to be a member of the family Columbidae with pigeons and doves, but others place it within separate classifications entirely.

Size, Appearance & Behavior

Based on reconstructions of its anatomy, it becomes instantly clear that the dodo has a similarly large, plump body shape as the turkey or chicken. It also has long legs, curly tail feathers, bare yellow feet, strong claws, and a featherless head. The short, undeveloped wings were obviously too small to support the body in flight, but they may have been used to maintain balance at top speeds. The big hooked beak, which was gray near the face and yellow or green toward the rounded tip, may have played an important role in hunting prey or resolving conflicts with other dodos.

Sailors gave conflicting facts about the dodo’s color. At different times, they mentioned that it was black or grey. But this may have been no contradiction at all since a modern study has revealed that the dodo most likely sported a brown-grey plumage, which became black while molting. This bird probably stood some 3 feet tall and weighed up to 50 pounds. The beak alone was some 9 inches long.

Most of the dodo’s unusual characteristics can be attributed to its isolation. With no known predators, the dodo gradually became bigger in size and lost its ability to fly. The rest of the body then adapted to compensate for flightlessness. Although it could run rather quickly, this species had few particular defensive adaptations, either physical or behavioral, and nested right out in the open. This left it completely exposed and vulnerable upon the arrival of settlers.

Diet

Not a whole lot of information was ever recorded about this bird’s diet. Most of what we know is based on a single description, plus modern inferences from its anatomy.

What did the dodo eat?

The dodo most likely ate fruits, nuts, seeds, and roots. It’s also been suggested that they may have eaten crabs and other shellfish, but this is merely conjecture. Reports indicate that these birds could have swirled about stones and iron in their beaks to help break down their food for digestion. This unusual behavioral quirk is actually common among many animals.

Predators and Threats

Until the arrival of people, these birds were almost completely free of predatory pressures of any kind. The isolation of its island habitat, which was too far out at sea to reach for predatory mammals and reptiles, was its main means of protection. It was also reported to bolster an impressively powerful bite to those who experienced it. Before they began to face the threat of invasive species introduced by settlers, the biggest threats to the dodo were environmental. Mauritius, by most accounts, was a tough place to live thanks to volcanic activity and frequent cyclones that forced dodos to alter their lives accordingly.

What ate the dodo?

Unaccustomed to predation, these birds made a very easy target for settlers, who killed them in large numbers and saved what they didn’t eat immediately for later. Reports indicate that the sailors could wander right up to the birds and kill them without resistance. But what probably sealed its fate was the introduction of deer, pigs, rats, cats, and monkeys, who preyed mercilessly on the exposed eggs or trampled the nests.

Reproduction, Babies, and Lifespan

Since this bird went extinct before the rise of modern scientific methods, very little is known about the reproductive habits of the dodo.

Contemporary observers wrote that it would produce only a single egg at a time, probably because it was under no particular predatory stress to produce more. Based on studies of its bone structure, one scientific study suggests that the chicks most likely hatched in August and then grew very quickly. This is perhaps because the chicks needed to develop into adulthood before the cyclones arrived between November and March and battered the island. The cyclones most likely reduced the availability of fruits and other vegetation. Based on very rough estimates, the bird may have lived for more than 20 years in the wild.

Population

These birds probably went extinct shortly after the last sighting in 1688, about 90 years after they were first discovered. The population was likely not high to begin with, but the onslaught of new threats eventually led to its demise.

Active scientific projects, such as those by Colossal Biosciences, are attempting to revive the dodo using its sequenced genome and advanced gene-editing techniques. This plan involves editing the genes of the Nicobar pigeon, the dodo’s closest living relative, and using chickens as surrogate egg layers for the modified pigeon eggs.