The surprising science of dodos

The dodo was a large, flightless pigeon, endemic to the island of Mauritius, just over 1,130 kilometres east of Madagascar, off the south-eastern coast of Africa.

Much maligned and misunderstood, in popular culture it somehow morphed into a comical caricature that was destined to die out because it was too stupid to survive.

This is not a fair or accurate view. The dodo was exquisitely adapted to its island habitat, and could still be alive now, were it not for the actions of our own species, which drove it to extinction.

However, it could soon be resurrected. Hot on the heels of efforts to resurrect both the woolly mammoth and the thylacine, American biotech company, Colossal Biosciences, has announced plans to de-extinct the dodo.

But why exactly did they go extinct in the first place? What did dodos eat? And, dare we ask, what did they taste like? You can find all answers below.

Curiosity. Naivety… When the first seafarers set foot on the island, they were exhausted and hungry. The dodo had evolved in an environment bereft of natural predators, so it had no fear of the newcomers.

Spotting a potential meal, the sailors found they could walk right up to the dodos on the beach, and then club them to death. The cries of one captive dodo, would attract more, which came running from the forest, and so it went on.

Perfectly placed as a stopover for their fleets as they criss-crossed the Indian Ocean, the Dutch visited Mauritius many times before setting up a permanent base there in the 1630s.

Along the way, they trashed the dodo’s natural habitat by felling forests to make way for sugar plantations, and flooded the island with non-native species. Rats, goats, pigs, deer and macaques competed with the dodos for resources. They destroyed the dodos’ nests and predated their eggs and chicks.

The dodo became extinct around 1693, less than 100 years after it was discovered.

No one knows for sure, but the dodo probably dined on the fruits, nuts and seeds that it pilfered from the forest floor. It may also have eaten seafood items, such as shellfish and crabs, that it found on the shoreline. Like many of today’s birds, dodos also swallowed stones, to help with digestion. These ‘gastroliths’ were retained in the bird’s muscular gizzard, where they helped to grind up fibrous material.

Science Focus