The main purpose dodos served to humans, in the brief contact between the two species, was as food. (Strickland and Melville, 1848 Fuller, 1987) Economic Importance for Humans: Positive It is now surmised that the rocks eased digestion. What really fascinated the visitors to Mauritius, however, was the fact that dodos seemed to eat stones and iron frequently and with no trouble. They have been described as "strong and greedy" hunters. Some sailors' accounts talk of watching dodos wade into water-pools to catch fish. Scientists thoughts on the diet of the dodo are based mainly on speculation. (Fuller, 1987 Strickland and Melville, 1848) It had virtually no defenses against predators, except for its large beak which could deliever a "fearsome bite" if the occasion arose, such as a threat to itself or its young. But for the most part, the dodo is described as a lazy, rather dumb animal. When it tried to run away, (wobble may be a more accurate term), its belly would drag on the ground and slow him down. There is a story one told of watching a dodo attempt to escape in a hurry. The sailors who landed on Mauritius found much amusement in watching the clumsy dodo's behavior. gonochoric/gonochoristic/dioecious (sexes separate).One sailor told about hearing the cries of a young dodo in its nest, which sounded "like that of a young goose." (Fuller, 1987 Greenway, 1958) There, the female would lay one egg, which she would protect and raise. Several people have described the nests the dodo made as being deep in the forest, in a bed of grass. Specifics about mating and incubation periods are not known. (Strickland and Melville, 1848 Fuller, 1987 Greenway, 1958 Britannica, 1986) One witness went so far as to describe it as grotesque. Those who saw it, marveled at the unique shape and size. Many words have been devoted to the long, crooked and hooked beak, which was light green or pale yellow in color and was one of the most distinguishing features of the dodo. The head was a lighter grey than the body, with small, yellow eyes. On the end of the legs were four toes, three in front and one acting as a thumb in back, all with thick, black claws. The dodo's legs were short and stubby and yellow in color. Because it was flightless, those who saw the bird often thought it had no real wings at all, describing them as "little winglets." Study of the skeleton reveals, however, that the dodo did in fact have wings that were simply not used for flight, much like penguins' wings. It had small wings that were far too weak to ever lift the dodo off the ground. The dodo was a large, plump bird covered in soft, grey feathers, with a plume of white at its tail. From these records and pictures, scientists and ornithologists have pieced together a fairly detailed composite of the dodo. There are a few fossils excavated from the island, which are kept at the British Museum, and a foot and a beak which are preserved at Oxford, but there are no complete stuffed specimens (models in museums are based on partial remains). There are accounts from the diaries and writings of the sailors and captains who landed on Mauritius in the 16th and 17th century, drawings from the few humans who were able to witness them alive (although, it can't even be proven that all the artists who rendered the dodo ever actually saw one). Our present day knowledge of what the dodo looked like is based on several sources. However, the dodo made its home primarily in the forest. The island of Mauritius is home to a variety of biomes, such as plains, small mountains, forests, and reefs all along the shores. (Britannica, 1986)Īlthough many pictures and stories place the dodo along the shores of Mauritius, it was actually a forest-dwelling bird. Dodo birds were once the inhabitants of Mauritius, a small, oyster-shaped island which lies approximately 500 miles east of Madagascar.
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