![]() ![]() (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) Skeleton and other specimens related to this bird can be found in Oxford University Museum of Natural History, British Museum in London as well as several museums throughout Europe, America and Mauritius.Dodo bone in a matrix of mud, seed and other fossils excavated in a dry lake bed on the Island of Mauritius.A white dodo was incorrectly thought to have inhabited the island of Réunion. ![]() Based on crudely stuffed specimens, scientists have suggested that the images with puffed feathers is a part of their display behavior.
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