Muskan

· 11 Jan 2022

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When did dodo birds go extinct?

The Dodo was a large flightless bird that became extinct probably due to human interventions. The name dodo may have come from the Portuguese word 'doudo,' which means ‘simpleton,' owing to the bird's lack of fear of humans and ease of killing. Today, however, the term 'dodo' is used to denote foolishness.
The last confirmed sighting of the dodo was in 1662 on an islet off the coast of Mauritius. The dodo had become extremely rare by this time, with the last recent sighting occurring 24 years prior, although the species was most likely unknown beyond this point. However, the bird was declared extinct in 1681.

Dodo’s appearance
Dodos were enormous birds, around three feet tall, with downy grey feathers and a white plume for a tail (larger than a turkey, weighing about 23 kg). The Dodo had short wings and a large head, as well as a 9-inch blackish bill with a reddish sheath producing the hooked tip, and a sternum - an area with powerful wing muscles for flying birds. They were known for their unusual beaks, which were hefty, curved, and able to give a painful bite. It was possibly pale yellow or green in colour and was probably the dodo's only real defence.

Where did Dodo live?
The Dodo lived on Mauritius, an Indian Ocean island, 500 miles off Madagascar's eastern coast. The dodo was largely a forest bird that ventured closer to the shoreline on occasion. These pigeon-like creatures discovered heaven while roaming the Indian Ocean more than 26 million years ago: the Mascarene Islands. The birds had no incentive to leave because there was plenty of food and no predators. As a result, their descendants gradually grew larger and heavier, with larger beaks and smaller wings: dodos evolved.  

Why Dodo became extinct?
Scientists generally agree that flightless birds are descended from flight-capable birds. The reason these birds lost their capacity to fly, however, remains unknown. According to one theory, prehistoric birds that inhabited areas without predators lost their ability to fly because they no longer needed the adaption to flee. Natural selection favoured other features over time, and flightlessness was passed down to these birds' descendants. Several flightless bird species went extinct as a result of predators such as rodents, dogs, pigs, and human hunters invading their environments and decimating their populations because they lacked the adaptive defence of flight. Alternative flightless birds that had evolved other defence mechanisms, such as the capacity to sprint at great speeds, managed to escape predation. Dodo was abundant on Mauritius' parched coastal areas and tropical woodlands until sailors arrived in 1598. Dogs, cats, pigs, and rats were introduced to the island, where they hunted the dodo and ate its eggs with the help of sailors. It was 1662 when the last wild dodo was ever seen. It was officially declared extinct in 1681. The dodo is often considered one of the most well-known instances of human-caused extinction, as well as a symbol of perishability in terms of human technological advancement.

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