Dodo
The dodo (Raphus cucullatus) was a large flightless bird that inhabited the island of Mauritius, on the Indian Ocean, till the early 17th century. It weighed around 23kg and was bigger than a turkey. Its large, hooked bill, short, thick legs and small, useless wings – totally out of proportion to its bulky body – gave it a peculiar appearance. It laid a single, large egg in a nest made of grass on the ground.
The earliest known account of the Dodo is found in a journal entry of an expedition made to the island in 1598. The first written account which actually used the name Dodo is found in the 1628 letter of Emanuel Altham: “Very strange fowles called by ye portingals Do Do.” While some say that the name originates from Portuguese duodo, meaning ‘silly or stupid’, others attribute the name to the sound of the bird’s call.
Sadly, the increase in exploration and trade in the 16th and 17th centuries, brought about the extinction of the dodo.
Seamen and colonists found the clumsy-looking creatures both easy to catch and tasty to eat.
The settlers introduced pigs to the islands, which destroyed the dodo’s nests and young as they foraged. Thus, by the close of the 17th century, the luckless bird was extinct.
Today, the dodo survives only in expressions like ‘dead as a dodo’, signifying foolishness or silliness.
