Dodo bone in a matrix of mud, seed and other fossils excavated in a dry lake bed on the Island of Mauritius. The excavation site on the island of Mauritius where the remains of some , animals were found, victims of an extreme drought some 4, years ago.
Today, Meijer says, the forest cover on Mauritius has been reduced by 98 percent with only a few patches of original forest remaining.
Researchers at the Mauritius Island excavation site sieving excavated mud for small bones, teeth and plant remains. Despite the fact that humans were far bigger then them, dodos were not afraid of these intruders. Fearless and flightless, they were an easy prey. Some were killed by sailors looking for a change in diet, others by the rats, cats, pigs and monkeys the sailors brought with them.
Or dodos may have gone hungry as the invaders cleared forests rich in fruits. Their extinction is likely due to complex phenomena of changing ecosystem and human behavior. Nowadays, dodo means stupid or slow. But how did this extinct animal get its strange name? It may go back to early 17th century, developing from the Portuguese word 'doudo', or 'simpleton', probably because the bird had no fear of man and was easily killed.
A mythical creature? From right after their extinction and up until the 19th century, dodos were considered by most scientists as a mythical creature - as real as griffin or unicorn - as there seemed to be no conclusive evidence of their existence. For the French that took possession of the island, the dodos seemed no more than the product of excessive imagination. Only in the early 19th century did European naturalists begin to see dodos across various museum collections.
Even still, the dodo is a long shot for successful de-extinction; the woolly mammoth and the gastric-brooding frog to name just two are much more likely candidates. Actively scan device characteristics for identification. Use precise geolocation data.
Select personalised content. Create a personalised content profile. Measure ad performance. Select basic ads. Create a personalised ads profile. Select personalised ads. Apply market research to generate audience insights. Measure content performance. Develop and improve products. List of Partners vendors. Share Flipboard Email. 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. Some of these creatures, particularly pigs, would have eaten dodo eggs and chicks, while others competed with dodos for food.
Evolution is not some inexorable march toward progress and extinction is not a value judgment. Animals—even strong, fast, intelligent animals—die out for all sorts of reasons, killed off by climate change, or habitat destruction, or human exploitation, or just an asteroid-sized bit of bad luck.
Statistically, it's almost guaranteed; scientists have estimated that more than 99 percent of all the species that have ever existed on the planet are now extinct.
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