Leaflet On Dodo

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Dodo

Conservation status: Extinct (1681)

Scientific classification

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Chordata

Class: Aves

Order: Columbiformes

Family: Raphidae

Genus: Raphus

Brisson, 1760

Species: R. cucullatus

Binomial name

Raphus cucullatus

(Linnaeus, 1758)

Basic Information

The Dodo is an extinct, flightless bird. It was discovered in

1581 in the Indian Ocean on the island of Mauritius. They were discovered by Dutch sailors, who named them Dodos after their call, which sounds like 'doo-doo', the Portuguese word 'doudo' meaning fool, and 'dodaars', a Dutch word referring to the feathers on their buttocks.

Extinction

They became extinct because the Dodo was entirely fearless of people, and this, in combination with its flightlessness, made it easy prey for the Dutch soldiers, who, on encountering the Dodos, decided to eat them. Another reason the Dodo became extinct is the animals that the sailors brought with them, such as rats, cats and pigs, destroyed the Dodos' nest meaning that the eggs were not able to survive.

But the main reason for their extinction is when the Dutch had settled on the island, they destroyed the forests which cut of the Dodo's food supply.

5 Things You Never Knew About The Dodo

* The Dodo is closely related to the pigeon.

* No one had really heard of the dodo until 1865 when it appeared in Lewis Carroll's, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.

* Dodo's are supposed to have weighed up to 23kg.

* Its face is made up from bare skin.

* It has 4 toes, three on the front, 1 on the back.