A group of Dutch paleontologists has discovered the lower half of a dodo, a long-extinct flightless bird.
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(Photo: AFP) |
Among the remains are a hip bone attached to four pieces of leg bones. The researchers investigated the ecosystem where the dodo once lived on the island of Mauritius in the Indian Ocean 500 years ago. They also found a beak, spine, and wings of the dodo.
The dodo was first discovered in 1598 but disappeared by 1682, having fallen prey to European settlers and the dogs, pigs, and rats they brought with them.
The dodo was a large bird, weighing about 23 kg when fully grown. It was gray in color with a large hooked beak and a tuft of white feathers decorating the rear of its tail. Very few dodo remains have been found to date.
What set it apart from other bird species was not just its size but also its inability to fly; despite having small wings, it could not take to the air.
(Photo: David Reilly)
