Dodo
8420
225495912
2008-07-14T00:20:08Z
74.73.39.250
[[WP:UNDO|Undid]] revision 225495236 by [[Special:Contributions/74.12.36.30|74.12.36.30]] ([[User talk:74.12.36.30|talk]])
{{otheruses}}
{{Taxobox
|name=Dodo
|fossil_range = Late [[Holocene]]
|image_caption=Dodo reconstruction reflecting new research at [[Oxford University Museum of Natural History]]
|status= EX
|status_system=iucn3.1
|extinct=1681
|image=Dodo 1.JPG
|image_width=250px
|regnum=[[Animal]]ia
|phylum=[[Chordate|Chordata]]
|classis=[[Bird|Aves]]
|ordo=[[Columbiformes]]
|familia=[[Columbidae]]
|subfamilia=†[[Raphinae]]
|genus=†'''''Raphus'''''
|genus_authority=[[Mathurin Jacques Brisson|Brisson]], 1760
|species=†'''''R. cucullatus'''''
|binomial=†''Raphus cucullatus''
|binomial_authority=([[Carl Linnaeus|Linnaeus]], 1758)
|synonyms=
*''Struthio cucullatus'' <small>Linnaeus, 1758</small>
*''Didus ineptus'' <small>Linnaeus 1766</small>
|range_map=DodoRangeMauritius.gif
|range_map_width=250px
|range_map_caption=Former range (in red)}}
The '''dodo''' (''Raphus cucullatus'') was a [[flightless bird]] [[Endemism|endemic]] to the [[Indian Ocean]] island of [[Mauritius]]. Related to [[Columbidae|pigeons and doves]], it stood about a [[metre|meter]] tall, weighing about 20 [[kilogram]]s, living on fruit and nesting on the ground.
The dodo has been [[List of extinct birds|extinct]] since the mid-to-late 17th century.<ref>{{IUCN2006|assessors='''BirdLife International'''|year=2004|id=19310|title=Raphus cucullatus|downloaded=[[2006-12-07]]}} Database entry includes justification for why this species is listed as extinct.</ref> It is commonly used as the archetype of an extinct species because its extinction occurred during recorded human history, and was directly attributable to human activity. The adjective phrase "as dead as a dodo" means undoubtedly and unquestionably dead. The phrase "to go the way of the dodo" means to become extinct or obsolete, to fall out of common usage or practice, or to become a thing of the past.
==Etymology==
[[Image:Drawings of a dodo from the Journal of VOC-ship Gelderland 1601- 1603.png|thumb|left|Drawings of the dodo from the [[travel journal]] of [[Dutch East India Company|VOC]]-ship 'Gelderland' (1601–1603)]]
The [[etymology]] of the word ''dodo'' is not clear. However, there is a consensus that the name is probably [[pejorative]]. Some ascribe it to the Dutch word ''dodoor'' for "sluggard". It may be related to ''dodaers'' ("plump-arse"), the [[Dutch language|Dutch]] name of the [[Little Grebe]]. The connection may have been made because of similar feathers of the hind end or because both animals were ungainly. However, the Dutch are also known to have called the Mauritius bird the ''walghvogel'' ("loathsome bird" or "nauseating fowl") in reference to its taste. This last name was used for the first time in the journal of vice-admiral Wybrand van Warwijck who visited and named the island Mauritius in 1598. ''Dodo'' or ''Dodaerse'' is recorded in captain Willem van West-Zanen's journal four years later,<ref name=Staub1996>'''Staub''', France (1996): Dodo and solitaires, myths and reality. ''Proceedings of the Royal Society of Arts & Sciences of Mauritius'' '''6''': 89-122 [http://www.potomitan.info/dodo/c32.php HTML fulltext]</ref> but it is unclear whether he was the first one to use this name, because before the Dutch, the Portuguese had already visited the island in 1507, but did not settle permanently. The dodo was also known as the Devil's chicken{{Fact|date=May 2008}} to the early settlers of the island.
According to ''[[Encarta]] Dictionary'' and ''Chambers Dictionary of Etymology'', "dodo" comes from [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]] ''doudo'' (currently ''doido'') meaning "fool" or "crazy".<ref name=fool/> However, the present Portuguese name for the bird, ''dodô'', is of English origin. The Portuguese word ''doudo'' or ''doido'' may itself be a loanword from [[Old English language|Old English]] (cf. English "dolt").
Yet another possibility is that dodo was an [[Onomatopoeia|onomatopoeic]] approximation of the bird's own call, a two-note pigeony sound like "doo-doo".<ref name=Quammen1996>'''Quammen''', David (1996): ''The Song of the Dodo: Island Biogeography in an Age of Extinction''. Touchstone, New York. <small>ISBN 0684827123</small><!--1997 is reprint--></ref>
==Systematics and evolution==
[[Image:DodoMansur.jpg|thumb|left|An illustration by [[Mughal Empire|Mughal]] artist [[Ustad Mansur]], one of the first illustrations of the Dodo]]
The dodo was a close relative of modern [[columbidae|pigeons and dove]]s. [[mitochondrial DNA|mtDNA]] [[cytochrome b|cytochrome ''b'']] and 12S [[Ribosomal RNA|rRNA]] [[DNA sequence|sequences]]<ref name=Shapiro2002>'''Shapiro''', Beth; Sibthorpe, Dean; Rambaut, Andrew; Austin, Jeremy; Wragg, Graham M.; Bininda-Emonds, Olaf R. P.; Lee, Patricia L. M. & Cooper, Alan (2002): Flight of the Dodo. ''[[Science (journal)|Science]]'' '''295''': 1683. <small>{{DOI|10.1126/science.295.5560.1683}}</small> (HTML abstract) [http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/295/5560/1683/DC1 Supplementary information]</ref> analysis suggests that the dodo's ancestors diverged from those of its closest known relative, the [[Rodrigues Solitaire]] (which is also extinct), around the [[Paleogene]]-[[Neogene]] boundary.<ref>See [[Raphinae|Raphidae]] as for why the date "25 [[mya (unit)|mya]]" is suspect</ref> As the Mascarenes are of [[volcano|volcanic]] origin and less than 10 million years old, both birds' ancestors remained most likely capable of flight for considerable time after their lineages' separation. The same study has been interpreted<ref>{{cite web|author=|title=DNA yields dodo family secrets|publisher=[[BBC News]]|date=[[2002-02-28]]|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/1847431.stm|accessdate=2006-09-07}}</ref> to show that the Southeast Asian [[Nicobar Pigeon]] is the closest living relative of the dodo and the [[Réunion Sacred Ibis|Reunion Solitaire]].
However, the proposed [[phylogenetics|phylogeny]] is rather questionable regarding the relationships of other [[taxon|taxa]]<ref name=JohnsonClayton2000>'''Johnson''', Kevin P. & '''Clayton''', Dale H. (2000): Nuclear and Mitochondrial Genes Contain Similar Phylogenetic. Signal for Pigeons and Doves (Aves: Columbiformes). ''Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution'' '''14'''(1): 141–151. [http://www.inhs.uiuc.edu/~kjohnson/kpj_pdfs/MPE.Johnson.Clayton.2000.pdf PDF fulltext]</ref> and must therefore be considered hypothetical pending further research; considering [[biogeography|biogeographical]] data, it is very likely to be erroneous. All that can be presently said with any certainty is that the ancestors of the didine birds were pigeons from Southeast Asia or the [[Wallacea]], which agrees with the origin of most of the Mascarenes' birds. Whether the dodo and Rodrigues Solitaire were actually closest to the Nicobar Pigeon among the living birds, or whether they are closer to other groups of the same radiation such as ''[[Ducula]]'', ''[[Green pigeon|Treron]]'', or ''[[Goura (genus)|Goura]]'' pigeons is not clear at the moment.
For a long time, the dodo and the Rodrigues Solitaire (collectively termed "didines") were placed in a [[family (biology)|family]] of their own, the Raphidae. This was because their relationships to other groups of birds (such as [[rallidae|rails]]) had yet to be resolved. As of recently, it appears more warranted to include the didines as a '''subfamily''' [[Raphinae]] in the [[Columbidae]].
[[Image:Dodo reunion-Rothschild.jpg|thumb|Painting of an albino dodo, previously mislabeled as "''[[Réunion Sacred Ibis|Raphus solitarius]]''".]]
The supposed "White Dodo" is now thought to be based on misinterpreted reports of the [[Réunion Sacred Ibis]]{{Fact|date=November 2007}} and paintings of apparently [[albinism|albinistic]] dodos; a higher frequency of albinos is known to occur occasionally in island species (''see also'' [[Lord Howe Swamphen]]).
==Morphology and flightlessness==
In October 2005, part of the Mare aux Songes, the most important site of dodo remains, was excavated by an international team of researchers. Many remains were found, including bones from birds of various stages of maturity,<ref>{{cite web|author=|title=Scientists find 'mass dodo grave'|publisher=[[BBC News]]|date=[[2005-12-24]]|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4556928.stm|accessdate=2006-09-07}}</ref> and several bones obviously belonging to the skeleton of one individual bird and preserved in natural position.<ref name=fool>{{cite web|author=|title=Dodo skeleton find in Mauritius|publisher=[[BBC News]]|date=[[2006-06-24]]|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/5113372.stm|accessdate=2006-08-28}}</ref> These findings were made public in December 2005 in the [[Naturalis]] in [[Leiden]]. Before this, few associated dodo specimens were known, most of the material consisting of isolated and scattered bones. [[Dublin]]'s [[Natural History Museum (Ireland)|Natural History Museum]] and the [[Oxford University Museum of Natural History]], among others, have a specimen assembled from these disassociated remains. A Dodo egg is on display at the [[East London, South Africa|East London]] museum in [[South Africa]]. Until recently, the most intact remains, currently on display at the Oxford University Museum of Natural History, were one individual's partly skeletal foot and head which contain the only known soft tissue remains of the species.
[[Image:ExtPassdodo-ea-rs05.jpg|thumb|left|1626 dodo image by [[Roelant Savery]], drawn after a stuffed specimen – note that it has two left feet and that the bird is obese from captivity.]]
The remains of the last known stuffed dodo had been kept in [[Oxford]]'s [[Ashmolean Museum]], but in the mid-18th century, the specimen – save the pieces remaining now – had entirely decayed and was ordered to be discarded by the museum's curator or director in or around 1755.
In June 2007, adventurers exploring a cave in Mauritius discovered the most complete and well-preserved dodo [[skeleton]] ever.<ref>{{cite web|author=|title=Dodo Skeleton Found on Island, May Yield Extinct Bird's DNA|publisher=[[National Geographic]]|date=[[2007-07-03]]|url=http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/07/070703-dodo.html|accessdate=2007-07-09}}</ref>
According to artists' renditions, the Dodo had greyish [[plumage]], a 23-centimeter (9-inch) [[beak|bill]] with a hooked point, very small [[wing]]s, stout yellow legs, and a tuft of curly [[feather]]s high on its rear end. Dodos were very large birds, weighing about 23 [[kilogram|kg]] (50 pounds). The [[sternum]] was insufficient to support flight; these ground-bound birds evolved to take advantage of an island [[ecosystem]] with no predators.
The traditional image of the dodo is of a fat, clumsy bird, hence the official scientific name ''Didus ineptus'', but this view has been challenged in recent times. The general opinion of scientists today is that the old drawings showed overfed captive specimens.<ref>Kitchener, A. On the external appearance of the dodo, ''Raphus cucullatus''. Archives of natural History, 20, 1993.</ref> As Mauritius has marked dry and wet seasons, the dodo probably fattened itself on ripe fruits at the end of the wet season to live through the dry season when food was scarce; contemporary reports speak of the birds' "greedy" appetite. In captivity, with food readily available, the birds became overfed very easily.
==Diet==
The [[tambalacoque]], also known as the "dodo tree", was hypothesized by Stanley Temple to have been eaten from by Dodos, and only by passing through the digestive tract of the dodo could the seeds germinate; he claimed that the tambalacocque was now nearly [[coextinction|extinct]] due to the dodo's disappearance. He [[force-feeding|force-fed]] seventeen tambalacoque fruits to [[Wild Turkey]]s and three germinated. Temple did not try to germinate any seeds from control fruits not fed to turkeys so the effect of feeding fruits to turkeys was unclear. Temple also overlooked reports on tambalacoque seed germination by A. W. Hill in 1941 and H. C. King in 1946, who found the seeds germinated, albeit very rarely, without abrading.<ref name=Temple1977>'''Temple''', Stanley A. (1977): Plant-animal mutualism: coevolution with Dodo leads to near extinction of plant. ''[[Science (journal)|Science]]'' '''197'''(4306): 885-886. [http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0036-8075%2819770826%293%3A197%3A4306%3C885%3APMCWDL%3E2.0.CO%3B2-0 HTML abstract]</ref><ref name=Hill1941>'''Hill''', A. W. (1941): The genus ''Calvaria'', with an account of the stony endocarp and germination of the seed, and description of the new species. ''Annals of Botany'' '''5'''(4): 587-606. [http://aob.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/reprint/5/4/587 PDF fulltext] (requires user account)</ref><ref name=King1946>'''King''', H. C. (1946). ''Interim Report on Indigenous Species in Mauritius''. Government Printer, Port Louis, Mauritius.</ref><ref name=WitmerCheke1991>'''Witmer''', M. C. & '''Cheke''', A. S. (1991): The dodo and the tambalacoque tree: an obligate mutualism reconsidered. ''[[Oikos (journal)|Oikos]]'' '''61'''(1): 133-137. [http://cat.inist.fr/?aModele=afficheN&cpsidt=5082004 HTML abstract]</ref>
==Extinction==
[[Image:Saveryvogels.png|thumb|''Landscape with birds'' - dodo painted by [[Roelant Savery]] (1628).]]
As with many animals evolving in isolation from significant predators, the dodo was entirely [[island tameness|fearless]] of people, and this, in combination with its flightlessness, made it easy prey.<ref name=demise>{{cite web|author=|title=Scientists pinpoint dodo's demise|publisher=[[BBC News]]|date=[[2003-11-20]]|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/3281323.stm|accessdate=2006-09-07}}</ref> However, journals are full of reports regarding the bad taste and tough meat of the dodo, while other local species such as the [[Red Rail]] were praised for their taste. It is commonly believed that the Malay sailors held the bird in high regard and killed them only to make head dressings used in religious ceremonies.<ref>James, Bradly. 1998. The History of Mauritius. Lowell House: Boston. 34-35.</ref> However, when humans first arrived on Mauritius, they also brought with them other animals that had not existed on the island before, including [[dog]]s, [[pig]]s, [[cat]]s, [[rat]]s, and [[Crab-eating Macaque]]s, which plundered the dodo nests, while humans destroyed the forests where the birds made their homes;<ref name=fryer/> currently, the impact these animals – especially the pigs and macaques – had on the dodo population is considered to have been more severe than that of hunting. The 2005 expedition's finds are apparently of animals killed by a [[flash flood]]; such mass mortalities would have further jeopardized an already extinction-prone species.<ref>{{cite web|author=Tim Cocks|title=Natural disaster may have killed dodos|publisher=[[Reuters]]|date=[[2006-06-04]]|url=http://www.abc.net.au/science/news/ancient/AncientRepublish_1678225.htm|accessdate=2006-08-30}}</ref>
Although there are scattered reports of mass killings of dodos for provisioning of ships, archaeological investigations have hitherto found scant evidence of human predation on these birds. Some bones of at least two dodos were found in caves at Baie du Cap which were used as shelters by fugitive slaves and convicts in the 17th century, but due to their isolation in high, broken terrain were not easily accessible to dodos naturally.<ref name=Janoo2005/>
[[Image:Dodo-Skeleton Natural History Museum London England.jpg|thumb|left|Dodo skeleton, [[Natural History Museum]], [[London]], [[England]].]]
There is some controversy surrounding the extinction date of the dodo. Roberts & Solow state that "the extinction of the Dodo is commonly dated to the last confirmed sighting in 1662, reported by [[shipwreck]]ed mariner [[Volkert Evertsz]]" (Evertszoon), but many other sources suggest the more conjectural date 1681. Roberts & Solow point out that because the sighting prior to 1662 was in 1638, the dodo was likely already very rare by the 1660s, and thus a disputed report from 1674 cannot be dismissed out-of-hand.<ref name=RobertsSolow2003>'''Roberts''', David L. & '''Solow''', Andrew R. (2003): Flightless birds: When did the dodo become extinct? ''[[Nature (journal)|Nature]]'' '''425'''(6964): 245. <small>{{DOI|10.1038/426245a}}</small> (HTML abstract)</ref> [[statistics|Statistical]] analysis of the hunting records of [[Isaac Johannes Lamotius]] give a new estimated extinction date of 1693, with a 95% [[confidence interval]] of 1688 to 1715. Considering more circumstantial evidence such as travelers' reports and the lack of good reports after 1689,<ref name=Janoo2005>Janoo, Anwar (2005): Discovery of isolated dodo bones [Raphus cucullatus (L.), Aves, Columbiformes] from Mauritius cave shelters highlights human predation, with a comment on the status of the family Raphidae Wetmore, 1930. Annales de Paléontologie 91: 167–180. [English with French abstract] DOI:10.1016/j.annpal.2004.12.002 (HTML abstract) Hume et al ref probably too.</ref> it is likely that the dodo became extinct before 1700; the last Dodo died little more than a century after the species' discovery in 1581.<ref>[http://www.wikifaq.com/Dodo_Bird_FAQs Dodo Bird FAQs - WikiFAQ - Answers to Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>
Few took particular notice of the extinct bird. By the early 19th century it seemed altogether too strange a creature, and was believed by many to be a myth. With the discovery of the first batch of dodo bones in the Mare aux Songes and the reports written about them by George Clarke, government [[schoolmaster]] at [[Mahébourg]], from 1865 on,<ref>[[Lewis Carroll]]'s [[Alice's Adventures in Wonderland]] was published in 1865.</ref> interest in the bird was rekindled. In the same year in which Clarke started to publish his reports, the newly-vindicated bird was featured as [[Dodo (Alice's Adventures in Wonderland)|a character]] in [[Lewis Carroll]]'s ''[[Alice's Adventures in Wonderland]]''. With the popularity of the book, the dodo became a well-known and easily recognizable icon of extinction.
<br clear="right" />
===Cultural significance===
[[Image:Coat of arms of Mauritius.svg|thumb|[[Coat of arms of Mauritius|Coat of arms of]] [[Mauritius]]]]
The dodo is used by many environmental organizations that promote the protection of [[endangered species]], such as the [[Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust]] and the [[Jersey Zoological Park]], founded by [[Gerald Durrell]].<ref>{{cite web|author=Dee pa Unhook|title=Mauritius: Footprints From the Past|publisher=expresser's|date=[[2006-09-26]]|url=http://allafrica.com/stories/200609260428.html|accessdate=2006-09-26}} (requires subscription)</ref>
The dodo's significance as one of the best-known extinct animals and its singular appearance has led to its use in literature and popular culture to symbolize a concept or object that will or has become out of date, expressed in the expression "dead as a dodo" or "gone the way of the dodo".<ref>{{cite web|author=Steve Miller|title=First The Dodo, Now Full-Size SUV|publisher=Brand Week|year=[[2006-09-25]]|url=http://www.brandweek.com/bw/news/recent_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003156227|accessdate=2006-09-26}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|author=|title=Water ford Wildlife|publisher=Water ford Today|date=[[2006-01-01]]|url=http://www.waterford-today.ie/index.php?id=19474&what=2&issue=320|accessdate=2006-09-26}}</ref>
"Dodo" is also often used as a term to describe an unintelligent or deranged person, since the dodo had a reputation for an unintelligent lack of fear of humans.
The dodo [[charge (heraldry)#quadrupeds|rampant]] appears on the [[Coat of arms of Mauritius|coat of arms of]] [[Mauritius]].<ref name=fryer>{{cite web|author=Jonathan Fryer|title=Bringing the dodo back to life|publisher=[[BBC News]]|date=[[2002-09-14]]|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspondent/2255991.stm|accessdate=2006-09-07}}</ref>
==References==
{{reflist|2}}
==See also==
{{wikispecies|Raphus cucullatus}}
*[[List of extinct birds|Extinct birds]]
*[[Island gigantism]]
*[[Dodo (Alice's Adventures in Wonderland)]]
==External links==
{{wiktionary}}
{{commonscat|Raphus cucullatus}}
*David Reilly: [http://www.davidreilly.com/dodo/ Tragedy of the Dodo]. Retrieved [[2006-12-07]].
*The Extinction Website: [http://www.petermaas.nl/extinct/speciesinfo/dodobird.htm Species Info - ''Raphus cucullatus'']. Retrieved [[2006-12-07]].
*Rajith Dissanayake: [http://www.iob.org/userfiles/File/biologist_archive/Biol_51_3_Diss.pdf What did the dodo look like?]. Retrieved [[2008-05-04]].
[[Category:Extinct flightless birds]]
[[Category:Fauna of the Mascarenes]]
[[Category:Raphinae]]
[[Category:Recent extinctions]]
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