Dodo Bird
The Dodo bird is an extinct species. It has been extinct since the late 17th century, when the Portugese sailors discovered the dodo on the isolated island of Mauritius. The Dodo is used in the Coat of Arms of Mauritius island. The Dodo was driven to extinction by humans in 1681. The Dodos' latin name is Raphus Cucullatus. The dodo is slang for "a dull-witted, slow reacting person." The sailors, settlers and the release of dogs, cats and pigs destroyed the Dodo habitats and used them as food. The dodo had no natural predators because they lived isolated. They were ground-living, ground nesting and flightless. They couldn't extend their population to neighboring islands because they didn't fly. When other species came the Dodo had nothing to defend themselves because they lived on an island with no predators. So, therefore, 175 years after the discovery the last Dodo was dead.
For years historians were not sure what the Dodo really looked like because they existed before cameras. They relied on what people described and amateur artist. For a long time historians didn't have a complete skeleton, they only had a leg and head of a Dodo bird. They made skeletons with composites of other bird bones. In June of 2007 discoverers found a cave that completed the skeletons of the Dodo. Other details of the Dodo is in question. Historians believed that the Dodo was related to pigeons. They were thought to be approximately 3 feet tall and around 22-40 pounds. They also ate fruit and seeds.
Scientists believed that the loss of the Dodo almost caused the extinction of the Tambalacocque or also known as the Dodo tree. They thought the seeds would only germinate after passing through the digestive system. Further experimation discovered that the seeds would germinate without the Dodo but rarely. To keep the trees alive they use turkeys to germinate the Dodo tree seeds.
People thought for a long...