Interesting facts about the dodo bird. An extinct dodo bird is a professional educator. Behavior and lifestyle
In the western part of the Indian Ocean is the island of Mauritius, which has become famous for its unique wildlife. A third of its territory is occupied by tropical forests, which are an ideal environment for animal life. Despite favorable conditions, some of their species that previously inhabited the island became extinct. These include and Mauritian dodo- a flightless bird belonging to the family of the same name.
Little is known about its existence and lifestyle. We know that the dodo lived in places with a lot of fruit trees. The bird built its nests on the ground, where it hatched offspring. At the same time, the female laid only one egg, and raised only one chick.
Information has reached our days that the bird nested in the southwestern part of the island, which was distinguished by a drier climate. Where the bird has such a commitment is not known for certain. But the fact that this was exactly the case is also confirmed by the fact that the bird was caught by the sailors of the Gelderland, who landed on the island in 1601.
It was a fairly large bird, up to a meter long and weighing 20 kilograms. There were no predators on the island, so the flightless Dodo had no enemies there. We can judge the appearance of the bird only by the surviving pictures, and the descriptions that have survived to this day. The most interesting thing is that they are all different from each other, and do not allow you to get an accurate idea of the dodo. We can only compile a rough description of the bird, based on surviving documents.
And so what do we know?
The bird was quite large. The weight of an adult individual reached 18 kilograms. The dodo could not fly, but he did not need it, because he had no enemies on the island. The bird had a powerful hooked beak. Its length was 23 centimeters. Thanks to the fossil remains found, information was obtained about the plumage of the bird. Most likely, her body was covered with down.
Here is what eyewitnesses write about this bird.
The dodo's body was round and fat. She was not suitable for food, due to the low taste of her meat. Appearance was nondescript. The presence of poorly developed wings is also noted. The head ended in a powerful, downward-curved beak, yellow in color. There was no plumage, as such. Instead, there were three small feathers. The rest of the body, including the head, was covered with down. Thin and short legs did not match her huge body. Most likely, the fault of the disproportionate physique of the dodo was its gluttony.
The nature of the birds was quite severe. Due to their large weight, they could not move quickly, and used their sharp beaks as weapons. They ate only fruits. A thick layer of subcutaneous fat saved them from the cold. With the onset of the rainy season, the birds experienced a lack of food, and lived mainly on stored fat.
Dodos, or dodos, are representatives of the bird family of the pigeon-like order, lived on Earth about two centuries ago. The first scientific description of these birds appeared at the end of the 16th century. The first acquaintance of Europeans with the dodo bird belongs to the same time.
The first records of European travelers with the description of the mysterious flightless bird contained in them were made by the Dutch admiral Jacob Corneliszoon van Neck, who visited the island of Mauritius in 1601. It was then that the scientific world of Europe learned about the existence of a hitherto unknown representative of birds. This is how van Neck described these birds: “... more than our swans, with a huge head, half covered with feathers, as if with a hood. This bird has no wings. The tail consists of several soft, ash-colored feathers bent inward ... "
Of course, the captain was wrong in thinking that the dodo did not have wings. In fact, they had small, poorly developed wings. Birds often used them in duels with rivals. Here is a description of the behavior of birds left by another European traveler, Francois Lega: “... they just fight with their wings and wave them, calling each other. These strokes are fast and follow one after another twenty or thirty times within 4 - 5 minutes; the movements of the wings create a noise reminiscent of the sound made by the kestrel. It can be heard at a distance of more than 200 m. The skeleton of the wing is more rigid in the outer part and forms a small round growth under the feathers of the bird, resembling a musket bullet, which, together with the beak, is the main means of protection ... "
DodoFor the rest, however, van Neck was right. Judging by the paleontological finds, these were rather large birds. The average body weight of dodos was 25 kg, and the height reached 1 m.
The dodo's beak looked like an eagle's. That is why scientists have suggested that dodos were predators that fed on carrion, like eagles or vultures. However, this theory soon had to be refuted. Thanks to paleontological findings and a few descriptions, naturalists came to the conclusion that dodos were herbivorous and fed on the fruits of the palm tree, buds and leaves of trees and shrubs growing on the islands.
Dodos built nests to incubate their chicks. They were built on the ground and insulated with palm leaves and branches. The female dodo laid one egg, which both parents incubated in turn for about 30 days. At the same time, both the male and the female took care that strangers, other dodos or predators, did not approach the nest.
According to modern scientists, the mysterious dodo birds became extinct due to the settlement of the islands - the habitats of birds - by people. People have been known to bring their pets with them. Dodos could not survive in the neighborhood with pigs, dogs and rats.
In addition to the dodo, on the Mascarene Islands, due to human fault, such species of birds as the Dutch dove, the Reunion gray-brown parrot, the Mauritius shepherd and the Mauritian blue-gray parrot, the minerva owl, and also the corncrake became extinct.
In the modern world, they have become a real symbol of the struggle for the conservation of endangered animal species. The last dodos are thought to have died over 300 years ago, so scientists don't know much about them. But still some Interesting Facts about the life of these bizarre birds have survived to this day.
It is not known exactly how the dodos ended up on the island of Mauritius, located in the Indian Ocean just east of Madagascar. It is believed that they are the ancestors of ancient pigeons that accidentally landed on its shore and stayed here to live. The birds found their new habitat comfortable and bred beautifully, evolving over hundreds of years. Gradually they forgot how to fly and became much larger. For the first time, dodos were seen only in 1598, when the first Dutch settlers arrived on the island of Mauritius. In other parts of the world, the bird has never lived. After 65 years, all dodos became extinct. The last time a man managed to see a dodo was in 1662.
Before people came to the island, no one hunted birds
Mauritian dodos were peaceful birds that lived a quiet life. There was not a single predator on the island that could hunt them. They were not harmed by local insects and reptiles either. Therefore, the dodos did not have any protective devices that could save them when attacked. They could not fly, ran slowly and were very trusting and curious. Dodos were not afraid of the Dutch colonists, on the contrary, they themselves approached them closer to look at the new bizarre inhabitant of the island. They did not suspect that the man intended to kill them and eat them. Thus, dodos have become easy prey not only for people, but also for cats, dogs and predatory monkeys brought from the mainland.
Scientists believe that initially the ancestors of dodos were able to fly. It was with the help of wings that the doves arrived on the island. But over time, they no longer needed them, since they did not need to travel long distances or escape from predators. Therefore, in the course of evolution, they became flightless birds. The same process happened with penguins and ostriches. The weight of dodos also increased significantly. Dodos were similar in size to modern turkeys.
The dodo bird only laid one egg at a time
Evolution is a conservative process, so any animal will produce as many young as nature needs to reproduce the species. Dodos lived in paradise conditions, where no one hunted them, so their females laid only one egg at a time. This fact also became one of the reasons for their rapid extinction. Monkeys, brought by people to the island, quickly learned to destroy the nests of dodos. Cats, rats, dogs and even pigs preferred to hunt chicks.
For a long time, scientists believed that the Dutch killed all the dodos because of their chicken-like meat. But recent research proves that dodos weren't tasty. However, the starving sailors were not too fastidious. First of all, they were attracted by easy prey, since the birds were not at all afraid of them. In the end, they were able to kill almost all of them, and the dodo meat was either eaten or salted so as not to spoil.
The maned pigeon is the closest relative of the dodo.
Dodos were unique birds, scientists considered them a real anomaly. Through genetic analysis of their preserved remains, they were able to determine that their closest living relative is the maned pigeon. It is much smaller than a dodo in size and can fly. At the same time, these pigeons live in the South Pacific.
Another of their related species was the Rodrigues dodo, which lived on the island of Rodrigues. Unfortunately, he suffered the same fate as the dodo. They were also exterminated by the colonists who arrived on the island in the 17th century.
Wallowbird - original name for dodos
Scientists did not have the opportunity to study dodos while they were alive, since all birds became extinct within a few decades. Even during the life of dodos, there was confusion with their name. The Dutch called them wallowbirds, and the Portuguese called them penguins. Now scientists cannot even say where the name dodo came from. Most of them believe that it comes from the Dutch word dodoor, that is, sluggish.
It is worth noting that the Dutch did not plan to exterminate all dodos. They sent several live birds to Europe on ships so that scientists could study them. But most of the dodos did not survive the long journey. Therefore, a few remains are all that remains of these unique birds. The shrunken head and leg are in the Oxford Museum of Natural History. Several dodo skull fragments and paw remains can also be seen in Copenhagen and Prague. Also, scientists were able to model a full-fledged model of the dodo bird, so that people can see what they looked like before extinction.
Dodo is mentioned in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.
In fact, dodos have had a significant impact on European culture. There is even a popular saying in the UK: "Dead like a dodo". In addition, Lewis Carroll resurrected them on the pages of his book. It is widely believed that he took the word "dodo" as his pseudonym. His real name is Dodgson. Strongly stuttering, he often could not pronounce it completely, so it becomes clear why he chose this particular word as a pseudonym.
Perhaps the scientists will be able to resurrect the dodo
Modern technologies are rapidly developing, and scientists today own a scientific program that, in theory, can resurrect extinct species using their well-preserved DNA fragments. Scientists have managed to collect a lot of remains of dodos, so they have enough genetic material. In addition, they can also get it from maned pigeons, which are close relatives of dodos. But right now, it's impossible to say whether scientists can actually create a living dodo. Even if their experiments are successful, they intend to resurrect the mammoths in the first place.
At one time, man made enough efforts to wipe out many species of animals from the face of the Earth. Perhaps he did it unintentionally, but the result of this has not changed. How many animals have been included in the Black Book since the 16th century? Dozens, if not hundreds.
Let me remind you that along with the International Red Book, which includes animals that are on the verge of extinction and need enhanced protection, there is a Black Book that includes animals that existed on Earth not so long ago and disappeared forever thanks to man. We have already written about some of this list - these are Steller's cow and thylacine.
The turn of dodos has come - funny flightless birds, similar to large turkeys with a massive beak and powerful paws.
In the dodo family, 3 species were distinguished, the most famous of which was the Mauritian dodo (lat. Raphus cucullatus), which received the funny name “do-do”. The remaining two species, the Réunion or Bourbon dodo (lat. Raphus solitarius) and the hermit dodo (lat. Pezophaps solitaria), were less numerous than the first.
All three species became extinct during the 17th and 18th centuries. The Mauritian dodo that lived on the island of Mauritius (1681) was the very first of them to disappear. Behind him, in the middle of the 18th century, the Bourbon dodo (presumably 1750), which lived on the island of Reunion, disappeared, and at the beginning of the 19th century, the third species also disappeared - the inhabitant of the island of Rodrigues.
Photo by Via Tsuji The appearance of dodos can only be judged by the descriptions and drawings that have remained since those times. Fortunately, thanks to the extraordinary interest in this bird, delivered by several living specimens to Europe, many painters considered it their duty to capture this wonderful miracle. Unfortunately, only 14 portraits of these dodos have survived to this day. One of which was discovered quite by accident in 1955 at the St. Petersburg (then Leningrad) Institute of Oriental Studies.
The beak is the most remarkable body part in the appearance of dodos. It could reach a length of 20 centimeters, and the tip of its beak was slightly bent down, which gave the dodo a slightly predatory look. They were slightly larger than turkeys. Quite well-fed, and from this they looked awkward.
They lost their wings during a long evolution, and in their place only rudiments remained in the form of several elongated feathers. The tail was also missing. Unlike some flightless birds, such as ostriches or cassowaries, they did not know how to run fast.
Photo by Stanislav Krejcik So the dodos lived in their calm world until the most bloodthirsty predator of all times and peoples appeared on their islands - man.
The first to land on the Mascarene Islands were the Portuguese, followed by the Dutch. Missing meat for long months of wandering around the sea, the sailors mercilessly killed these birds and filled their holds with their carcasses to capacity. Killing the do-do was easy. Never encountering predators, these birds trustingly and fearlessly approached strangers. They paid for their gullibility with their lives. The birds could not escape them, because they did not know how to fly, but ran extremely slowly and clumsily. Therefore, dodos became very easy and tasty prey.
In 1598, the Dutch established a penal colony on these islands. After that, pigs, dogs, cats and rats and other living creatures were brought here, which helped to destroy these birds. The last straw was deforestation for sugar and tea plantations.
Dodos were vegetarians. They fed on leaves, fruits and seeds of plants. They made their nests in the bushes. The female laid only 1 egg.
All that is now left of this bird is a complete femur and 4 paw bones, fragments of skulls, beaks, vertebrae and toes. The Mauritian dodo got its name “do-do” from the lips of the Dutch, which in their language means “stupid”, “simple”.
Knowing the sad history of this bird, it becomes clear why the Jersey Wildlife Trust chose the dodo as their emblem. In addition, the image of this bird can be seen on the state emblem of Mauritius.
2015-06-14
Dodo, or Raphus cucullatus, is an extinct species of flightless bird that is native to the tiny island nation of Mauritius. The answer to the question of its extinction is complex and ambiguous.
The standard extinction theory is that Dutch sailors ate most of the species. The Dodo was incredibly easy to capture due to the fact that it had no fear of humans (why it did not fear creatures much larger than its size is another mystery). There is a rational grain and evidence in this theory. Sailors landed and settled on the island in 1598, various sources confirm that the Dodo was actually hunted by sailors because of their clumsiness.
According to an article published at the Oxford University of Natural History, another reason is indicated. Pigs, dogs and rats introduced by the Europeans ravaged bird nests and destroyed masonry, combined with humans, the population of the species began to decline rapidly until it was destroyed.
The exact date of acquaintance of people with the Dodo is a matter of dispute, the first date is 1598, eyewitnesses are Dutch sailors traveling with Jacob van Neck. According to other sources, the bird was seen decades earlier in 1507.
The date of extinction is also disputed. According to the University of Oxford, the Dodo became extinct in 1680, which is reflected in many other sources. But bird observation data exist 10 years later than this estimate. The third estimate is 1662 (book: Lost Land of the Dodo: The Ecological History of Mauritius, Réunion and Rodrigues). The 30-year gap makes it difficult to confirm any extinction theory.
The interesting thing is that being one of the most famous extinct animals of all time, it is on par with mammoths. No complete skeleton exists; the last one was destroyed in a fire in 1755.
The common image of the dodo, an overweight clumsy bird, is most likely wrong. In the reconstruction of the recently found bones, it turned out that the dodo was in fact more graceful and agile than the artists of the past portrayed it. The reason for this is most likely a mismatch with the seasonal change in body fat.
Thus, there is an extinction mystery that has not been completely solved until now. Perhaps, over time, some new technologies or data will appear that will shed light on this interesting mystery.
