The Dodo

Extinct: By the year 1690, and probably decades earlier.

Location: Mauritius

Demise: Hunted for food by Europeans and lastly probably

 the introduction of monkeys and hogs to the island.

The Glass Dodo beaks are scaled from accurate

studies of the collections at the Zoology Museum,

Cambridge

In the short period of time during which the Dodo

 came into regular contact with man, a few records

 and notes of its existence were made, both written

 and pictorial form. And then it was gone, leaving behind

 some scattered relics: skeletal remains that would be

 retrieved from swamps some two centuries after the

 bird’s demise, a stuffed specimen that was destroyed

 long ago & a few other sundry fragments”

The Dodo originally evolved from Pigeons and by the

 time the Europeans arrived “The beak had grown way

 out of ordinary proportion, the head - along with the

 body - had swollen to comparatively huge size, the

 legs and feet had become remarkably sturdy, the

 wings were diminished to a fraction of what might

 be expected and the tail had virtually vanished or else

 had assumed a peculiar decorative role”

The huge beak must have evolved from some purpose

but unfortunately we don’t know what that purpose

was. Probably it tore at large food items as they were

held steady by the powerful feet.”

The actual colour of the Dodo’s beak is very uncertain.

There are varying accounts and many drawings from

sources of varying reliability and few references to colour.

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