It became extinct in the mid 17th century during the colonisation of the island by the Dutch.

Historically, the dodo was a non-flying bird that lived on the island of Mauritius, east of Madagascar in the Indian Ocean.

A popular but unsubstantiated belief is that Dodgson chose the particular animal to represent himself because of his stammer, and thus would accidentally introduce himself as 'Do-do-dodgson'. The Dodo is a fictional character appearing in Chapters 2 and 3 of the 1865 book Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll (Charles Lutwidge Dodgson). An illustration from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. The Holocene, doi:10.John Tenniel's illustration of the Dodo in 'A Caucus Race and a Long Tale'. Mid-Holocene (4200 kyr BP) mass mortalities in Mauritius (Mascarenes): Insular vertebrates resilient to climatic extremes but vulnerable to human impact. The article “Mid-Holocene (4200 kyr BP) mass mortalities in Mauritius (Mascarenes): Insular vertebrates resilient to climatic extremes but vulnerable to human impact,” appeared recently in the scientific journal “The Holocene.” (Rijsdijk, K.F., Zinke, J., de Louw, P.G.B., Hume,J.P., van der Plicht, J., Hooghiemstra, H., Meijer, H.J.M., Vonhof, H.B., Porch, N., Florens, F.B.V., Baider, C., van Geel, B., Brinkkemper, J., Vernimmen, T. “It has always been thought that animals on islands are particularly sensitive to climate change.” In the case of the dodo and other species on Mauritias, this new study reveals an island population highly resilient to climate change. “With modern climate change scientists are very interested in how island animals adapt, as their ability to move to less disturbed areas is limited,” Meijer explains. “Even many of the native plant species in the few remaining forest patches would probably perish,” Meijer says. Should another extended drought occur similar to the mid-Holocene event, it is very likely the remaining endemic species on Mauritius would not survive as the environment is so degraded. (Image copyright Mikel Rijsdijk/Dodo Research Programme) Researchers at the Mauritius Island excavation site sieving excavated mud for small bones, teeth and plant remains. “Mauritius was a popular stop because it provided fresh water and lots of food,” Meijer says) (The island’s giant tortoises went extinct in the 1800s when Dutch trade ships filled their holds with these long-lived animals to use as fresh meat on long voyages to and from Indonesia. Considerable resources have been directed to preserving the island’s few remaining endemic species, such as the Mauritian kestrel. Today, Meijer says, the forest cover on Mauritius has been reduced by 98 percent with only a few patches of original forest remaining. It received a reputation as stupid because it did not flee from humans” and human-introduced predators after they arrived at the dodo’s home in the 1600s. “The island had no predators or carnivores and the dodo had no need to flee, so it lost its ability to fly. The dodo was resilient, and perfectly adapted to the island’s habitat, Meijer explains. The excavation site on the island of Mauritius where the remains of some 500,000 animals were found, victims of an extreme drought some 4,000 years ago. “It is evident that a lot of animals suffered and died during this period, and their populations were greatly reduced,” Meijer continues, “but no species, including the dodo, went extinct during this extreme drought.” Fossil evidence reveals that “all animals were still living and the island’s ecosystem was intact at the time humans arrived in the 1600s.” “Dodos, tortoises, lizards and other animals gathered here because the lake was one of the few sites on the island with fresh water,” says Hanneke Meijer, an ornithologist at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History and one of the paper’s co-authors. Using radiocarbon dating of the bones, oxygen isotope analysis of geologic features on Mauritius and nearby islands, and the study of the island’s water table, the scientists determined the animals died during an extreme drought that lasted several decades. (Image copyright Kenneth Rijsdijk/Dodo Research Programme) Dodo bone in a matrix of mud, seed and other fossils excavated in a dry lake bed on the Island of Mauritius.

Dodo bird images