Historical sketches aren’t a big help either-only two of the Dodo drawings on record were by people who saw the bird in real life. Most museums have composites built from the bones of many different individuals, which sacrifices the mechanical and anatomical specificities of the species. So far the truth about all these mysteries has been buried because no one has ever scientifically examined a real Dodo. Is it possible that the Dodo is more like our modern-day pigeons and less like the solitaire? The team also posed some new questions about the origins of the species: For example, why are its hindquarters so similar to that of pigeons when there’s such an immense weight and size difference between the two birds? Though the Dodo is pegged as part of the pigeon and dove family, its closest relative is thought to be the Rodrigues Solitaire -another flightless and extinct bird. The work included describing some bones never before catalogued, so in a way, they’re building the first-ever Dodo atlas. They also discovered kneecaps on the birds, which could mean it had better mobility on the ground. By studying the way the muscles and tendons attached to the bird’s bones, they’ve realized that the 3-foot-tall, 40-pound avian was much more sleekly proportioned and graceful than previously imagined. The researchers spent the past five years examining every inch of the only two complete Dodo skeletons known to scientists. But to Leon Claessens, a Dutch paleontologist at the College of the Holy Cross in Massachusetts, the Dodo is “ a very complex, dynamic animal,” that deserves a little more respect-and maybe a better PR agent.Įvidence found by Claessens and his team may just be enough to shatter the stereotype. According to the dictionary, a “ dodo ” is either a dull-witted, slow-reacting person, or a clumsy, extinct bird-and the first definition rose out of the second.
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