Dodo bird when was it extinct

Ever wondered about the extinct, flightless bird, the dodo? What is a dodo bird? The dodo was a flightless relative of pigeons and doves, which once inhabited the islands of Mauritius and Reunion.

What did the dodo look like? Dodos were large birds, approximately three-feet tall, with downy grey feathers and a white plume for a tail. The Dodo had tiny wings and its sternum — an area with strong wing muscles for flying birds — was correspondingly small.

The massive birds could reach a body weight of more than 20 kilograms! Dodos had a distinctive beak that may have been pale yellow or green which was heavy, curved and probably the dodo's only real defense; it was capable of delivering a fairly painful bite.

Where did dodo birds live? The dodo was endemic to the island of Mauritius, miles from the Eastern coast of Madagascar. The dodo was primarily a forest bird, occasionally venturing closer to the shoreline. More than 26 million years ago, these pigeon-like birds found paradise while exploring the Indian Ocean: the Mascarene Islands.

Journal of Ornithology Biological Invasions Mammal Research By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate. Advanced search. Skip to main content Thank you for visiting nature. When did the dodo become extinct? Download PDF. Abstract The extinction of the dodo Raphus cucullatus L.

Main In most cases, the extinction of a species must be inferred from the record of sightings or from collections of individual organisms. References 1 Cheke, A. Book Google Scholar 2 Fuller, E. Google Scholar 3 Cooke, P.

Solow Authors David L. Roberts View author publications. View author publications. Ethics declarations Competing interests The authors declare no competing financial interests. The dodo's natural habitat was almost completely destroyed after people started settling on Mauritius. And when pigs, cats and monkeys were introduced, they added to the problem by eating the dodo and its eggs. The last confirmed sighting of a dodo was in and by the end of the 17th century there were no dodos left.

It was volcanically active and regularly struck by cyclones, which could cause severe food shortages. Extreme climatic shifts led to long periods of severe drought, fueling wildfires and mass animal die-offs. As thirsty animals crowded around the shrinking water surface, they left nutrient-rich droppings that fed the growth of toxic bacteria.

Many thousands of animals, from at least 22 different species, perished as the lake transformed into a muddy, poisonous swamp. Some critters likely also simply got mired in the muck. Though many dodos died at Mare aux Songes—indeed, the swamp is a major source of preserved dodo bones—the species soldiered on.

Dinosaurs, another icon of extinction and obsolescence, had a reign of some million years. Excavations of Fort Frederik Hendrik, which housed Dutch settlers between and , suggests that the settlers fed mainly on livestock they brought to the island, as well as local fish. The animal remains unearthed there have not included a single dodo bone.