But why exactly did they go extinct in the first place? What did dodos eat? And, dare we ask, what did they taste like? You can find all answers below.<\/p>\n
Why did the dodo go extinct? <\/strong><\/h2>\nCuriosity. Naivety\u2026 When the first seafarers set foot on the island, they were exhausted and hungry. The dodo had evolved in an environment bereft of natural predators, so it had no fear of the newcomers.<\/p>\n
Spotting a potential meal, the sailors found they could walk right up to the dodos on the beach, and then club them to death. The cries of one captive dodo, would attract more, which came running from the forest, and so it went on.<\/p>\n
Perfectly placed as a stopover for their fleets as they criss-crossed the Indian Ocean, the Dutch visited Mauritius many times before setting up a permanent base there in the 1630s.<\/p>\n
Along the way, they trashed the dodo\u2019s natural habitat by felling forests to make way for sugar plantations, and flooded the island with non-native species. Rats, goats, pigs, deer and macaques competed with the dodos for resources. They destroyed the dodos\u2019 nests and predated their eggs and chicks.<\/p>\n
The dodo became extinct around 1693, less than 100 years after it was discovered.<\/p>\n
What did the dodo eat? <\/strong><\/h2>\nNo one knows for sure, but the dodo probably dined on the fruits, nuts and seeds that it pilfered from the forest floor. It may also have eaten seafood items, such as shellfish and crabs, that it found on the shoreline.<\/p>\n
Like many of today\u2019s birds, dodos also swallowed stones, to help with digestion. These \u2018gastroliths\u2019 were retained in the bird\u2019s muscular gizzard, where they helped to grind up fibrous material.<\/p>\n
Read more:<\/strong><\/p>\n- What is the dodo\u2019s closest living relative?<\/a><\/li>\n
- Scientists could create a genetic doppelg\u00e4nger of a Tasmanian Tiger?<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>
Why couldn\u2019t the dodo fly? <\/strong><\/h2>\nThe dodo is descended from a much smaller, airborne pigeon which landed in Mauritius sometime in the last 7 million years.<\/p>\n
At the time, there were no terrestrial mammals around to eat it, and so gradually, the bird began to fly less and walk more. In this resource-rich environment, it also evolved to become bigger, until there came a point where it could no longer leave the ground. The dodo evolved.<\/p>\n
Is it wrong to ask if dodos tasted of chicken? <\/strong><\/h2>\nYes it is, but no, it didn\u2019t. Dutch sailors carried the dead birds back to their ships, where they chopped them up and turned them into stews. The meat was described as \u2018offensive and of no nourishment.\u2019<\/p>\n Five names the dodo didn\u2019t deserve<\/strong><\/h4>\n- The Dutch sailors of the day dubbed dodos as \u2018dodaersen\u2019 or \u2018fat-arses,\u2019 because of the birds\u2019 generously-proportioned backsides.<\/li>\n
- Seafarers who ate dodo meat, described it as tough and unpleasant. They called the dodo \u2018walchv\u00f6gel\u2019 or \u2018repulsive bird.\u2019<\/li>\n
- The day after they weighed anchor in Mauritius, the Dutch crew of the Gelderland<\/em> observed the festival of Kermesse, which involved eating fattened fowl. In reference to this, and the dodo\u2019s portly frame, they called the dodos \u2018kermisgans.\u2019<\/li>\n
- Swedish biologist Carl Linnaeus, who devised the modern system of naming organisms, bought into the misconception that dodos were clumsy and stupid. He labelled them Didus ineptus. <\/em><\/li>\n
- The word \u2018dodo\u2019 isn\u2019t exactly kind either. Some sources claim that the name came from 16th century Portuguese sailors who called them \u2018doudo\u2019, meaning \u2018fool\u2019 or \u2018crazy.\u2019<\/li>\n<\/ul>
<\/p><\/div> <\/section>
When did the dodo evolve? <\/strong><\/h2>\nNo one knows for sure. We know that it was well established when Dutch sailors became the first human visitors to Mauritius in 1598, but there\u2019s still so much more about the dodo that we don\u2019t understand.<\/p>\n
The knowledge we do have comes from analyses of its disarticulated remains, and the reports of those who encountered or heard about it.<\/p>\n
It makes for a confusing picture. According to these descriptions, the dodo was fast, slow, fat, thin, stooped, straight, pigeon-toed, web-footed, easy to catch, hard to catch, grey, black and blue.<\/p>\n
What did it really look like? <\/strong><\/h2>\nLive specimens were shipped to Europe in the 16th century, where they were put on display, and then sometimes stuffed. From these, we know that the dodo had a greyish-brown plumage, with tufty, white tail feathers.<\/p>\n
![\"""\"]( "\\"\"\"\\"\/")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div> An illustration of a dodo (19th century) \u00a9 Getty images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\nThe adult dodo stood about a metre tall, and weighed more or less the same as a cocker spaniel. It had short, stocky legs and a broad pelvis; all the better for waddling around, climbing over the rocks, and supporting its not inconsiderable weight.<\/p>\n
It also had a large, curved beak, which it probably used to defend its territory and forage for food.<\/p>\n
Where can I see a dodo? <\/strong><\/h2>\nIf US Biotech company, Colossal Biosciences<\/a>, have their way, you might be able to see a real, live dodo one day relatively soon. The same company that is planning to \u2018de-extinct\u2019 the woolly mammoth and the Tasmanian tiger, also plans to resurrect Mauritius\u2019s most famous animal.<\/p>\nIn the meantime, take a trip to Oxford\u2019s Natural History Museum<\/a>, which is home to the world\u2019s most complete dodo skeleton. Don\u2019t expect a photo opportunity though.<\/p>\nThe Oxford dodo comprises a head, a foot and some bits of dried skin, but it\u2019s still rather beautiful and serves as a poignant reminder of our species\u2019 troubled relationship with the natural world.<\/p>\n
Alternatively, turn to the pages of a well-known children\u2019s book. In 1865, Charles Dodgson, the don of Oxford University, was so taken with the Oxford dodo, that he incorporated it into a children\u2019s book that he was writing. The story was, of course, Alice\u2019s Adventures in Wonderland<\/em>, and Dodgson\u2019s pen name was none other than Lewis Carroll.<\/p>\nRead more:<\/strong><\/p>\n- Resurrecting the dodo: Science\u2019s bizarre plan to bring back extinct bird, explained<\/a><\/li>\n
- Back from the brink of extinction: The best conservation success stories<\/a><\/li>\n
- Can we bring extinct animals back from the dead?<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul> <\/body><\/html>\n
","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Learn what wiped out the dodo \u2013 and how scientists plan to resurrect the bird. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":23283,"template":"","categories":[1],"acf":{"readingTimeMinutes":"6"},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/42\/2023\/02\/the-surprising-science-of-dodos-everything-you-need-to-know-from-extinction-cause-to-its-repulsive-taste.jpg",1200,500,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/42\/2023\/02\/the-surprising-science-of-dodos-everything-you-need-to-know-from-extinction-cause-to-its-repulsive-taste-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/42\/2023\/02\/the-surprising-science-of-dodos-everything-you-need-to-know-from-extinction-cause-to-its-repulsive-taste-300x125.jpg",300,125,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/42\/2023\/02\/the-surprising-science-of-dodos-everything-you-need-to-know-from-extinction-cause-to-its-repulsive-taste-768x320.jpg",768,320,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/42\/2023\/02\/the-surprising-science-of-dodos-everything-you-need-to-know-from-extinction-cause-to-its-repulsive-taste-1024x427.jpg",800,334,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/42\/2023\/02\/the-surprising-science-of-dodos-everything-you-need-to-know-from-extinction-cause-to-its-repulsive-taste.jpg",1200,500,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/42\/2023\/02\/the-surprising-science-of-dodos-everything-you-need-to-know-from-extinction-cause-to-its-repulsive-taste.jpg",1200,500,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcsciencefocus\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"Learn what wiped out the dodo \u2013 and how scientists plan to resurrect the bird.","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcsciencefocus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/23282"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcsciencefocus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcsciencefocus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcsciencefocus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcsciencefocus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23283"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcsciencefocus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23282"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcsciencefocus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23282"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
No one knows for sure, but the dodo probably dined on the fruits, nuts and seeds that it pilfered from the forest floor. It may also have eaten seafood items, such as shellfish and crabs, that it found on the shoreline.<\/p>\n
Like many of today\u2019s birds, dodos also swallowed stones, to help with digestion. These \u2018gastroliths\u2019 were retained in the bird\u2019s muscular gizzard, where they helped to grind up fibrous material.<\/p>\n
Read more:<\/strong><\/p>\n The dodo is descended from a much smaller, airborne pigeon which landed in Mauritius sometime in the last 7 million years.<\/p>\n At the time, there were no terrestrial mammals around to eat it, and so gradually, the bird began to fly less and walk more. In this resource-rich environment, it also evolved to become bigger, until there came a point where it could no longer leave the ground. The dodo evolved.<\/p>\n Yes it is, but no, it didn\u2019t. Dutch sailors carried the dead birds back to their ships, where they chopped them up and turned them into stews. The meat was described as \u2018offensive and of no nourishment.\u2019<\/p>\n <\/p><\/div> <\/section> No one knows for sure. We know that it was well established when Dutch sailors became the first human visitors to Mauritius in 1598, but there\u2019s still so much more about the dodo that we don\u2019t understand.<\/p>\n The knowledge we do have comes from analyses of its disarticulated remains, and the reports of those who encountered or heard about it.<\/p>\n It makes for a confusing picture. According to these descriptions, the dodo was fast, slow, fat, thin, stooped, straight, pigeon-toed, web-footed, easy to catch, hard to catch, grey, black and blue.<\/p>\n Live specimens were shipped to Europe in the 16th century, where they were put on display, and then sometimes stuffed. From these, we know that the dodo had a greyish-brown plumage, with tufty, white tail feathers.<\/p>\n The adult dodo stood about a metre tall, and weighed more or less the same as a cocker spaniel. It had short, stocky legs and a broad pelvis; all the better for waddling around, climbing over the rocks, and supporting its not inconsiderable weight.<\/p>\n It also had a large, curved beak, which it probably used to defend its territory and forage for food.<\/p>\n If US Biotech company, Colossal Biosciences<\/a>, have their way, you might be able to see a real, live dodo one day relatively soon. The same company that is planning to \u2018de-extinct\u2019 the woolly mammoth and the Tasmanian tiger, also plans to resurrect Mauritius\u2019s most famous animal.<\/p>\n In the meantime, take a trip to Oxford\u2019s Natural History Museum<\/a>, which is home to the world\u2019s most complete dodo skeleton. Don\u2019t expect a photo opportunity though.<\/p>\n The Oxford dodo comprises a head, a foot and some bits of dried skin, but it\u2019s still rather beautiful and serves as a poignant reminder of our species\u2019 troubled relationship with the natural world.<\/p>\n Alternatively, turn to the pages of a well-known children\u2019s book. In 1865, Charles Dodgson, the don of Oxford University, was so taken with the Oxford dodo, that he incorporated it into a children\u2019s book that he was writing. The story was, of course, Alice\u2019s Adventures in Wonderland<\/em>, and Dodgson\u2019s pen name was none other than Lewis Carroll.<\/p>\n Read more:<\/strong><\/p>\n Learn what wiped out the dodo \u2013 and how scientists plan to resurrect the bird. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":23283,"template":"","categories":[1],"acf":{"readingTimeMinutes":"6"},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/42\/2023\/02\/the-surprising-science-of-dodos-everything-you-need-to-know-from-extinction-cause-to-its-repulsive-taste.jpg",1200,500,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/42\/2023\/02\/the-surprising-science-of-dodos-everything-you-need-to-know-from-extinction-cause-to-its-repulsive-taste-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/42\/2023\/02\/the-surprising-science-of-dodos-everything-you-need-to-know-from-extinction-cause-to-its-repulsive-taste-300x125.jpg",300,125,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/42\/2023\/02\/the-surprising-science-of-dodos-everything-you-need-to-know-from-extinction-cause-to-its-repulsive-taste-768x320.jpg",768,320,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/42\/2023\/02\/the-surprising-science-of-dodos-everything-you-need-to-know-from-extinction-cause-to-its-repulsive-taste-1024x427.jpg",800,334,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/42\/2023\/02\/the-surprising-science-of-dodos-everything-you-need-to-know-from-extinction-cause-to-its-repulsive-taste.jpg",1200,500,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/42\/2023\/02\/the-surprising-science-of-dodos-everything-you-need-to-know-from-extinction-cause-to-its-repulsive-taste.jpg",1200,500,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcsciencefocus\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"Learn what wiped out the dodo \u2013 and how scientists plan to resurrect the bird.","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcsciencefocus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/23282"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcsciencefocus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcsciencefocus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcsciencefocus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcsciencefocus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23283"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcsciencefocus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23282"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcsciencefocus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23282"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Why couldn\u2019t the dodo fly? <\/strong><\/h2>\n
Is it wrong to ask if dodos tasted of chicken? <\/strong><\/h2>\n
Five names the dodo didn\u2019t deserve<\/strong><\/h4>\n
When did the dodo evolve? <\/strong><\/h2>\n
What did it really look like? <\/strong><\/h2>\n
![\"""\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/4\/2023\/02\/dodo-illustration-1cda874.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C490"\" "\\"\"\"\\"\/")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>Where can I see a dodo? <\/strong><\/h2>\n
","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"