Dodo

Fact file

Name: Dodo
Status: Extinct

Habitat: Mauritius, an island in the Indian Ocean. This was the dodo's only home.

Description: Large flightless bird. We don't know exactly what it looked like. We have to rely on old pictures and the few bones and skins we have left - like the ones we have on display in the Museum.

Reasons for extinction:
The dodo only lived on one island - Mauritius. When sailors arrived in the sixteenth century they found that the dodo was very easy to catch, and even though it didn't taste very nice, many were eaten.
The dodo's natural habitat was almost completely destroyed after people started settling on Mauritius. And when pigs, cats and monkeys were introduced, they added to the problem by eating the dodo and its eggs.
The last confirmed sighting of a dodo was in 1681 and by the end of the 17th century there were no dodos left.

We all know the dodo is extinct, but did you know that there are very few remains of the dodo left to look at today? In fact, the bones and skin samples at the Museum in Oxford are probably the most complete set of remains held by any museum around the world.

This photograph shows the skull of the dodo. It belonged to a dodo that was brought to London in the 1630s. We can use it and other specimens to find out more about what the dodo looked like. There are displays on the dodo at the museum if you are coming to visit us.

This photograph shows the foot bones of the dodo. It belonged to a dodo that was brought to London in the 1630s. We can use it and other specimens to find out more about what the dodo looked like.

There are displays on the dodo at the museum if you are coming to visit us.

This photograph shows the skin sample that was saved from the head of the dodo. It belonged to a dodo that was brought to London in the 1630s.

It is very important as it has been used to get the dodo's DNA - from this work we have learnt that the dodo was related to the pigeon!

When the dodo was alive there was no photography. People drew and painted the bird, but they did not always know much about animals - they followed the fashion and style of the day and did not show the dodo in its true form.

These are old line drawing of dodos. Do you think they are very realistic drawings? They look as though they have been drawn very quickly. Do you think this is what the dodo looked like?

This is a model of a dodo on display in the Museum. It was created by looking at the remains of the dodo in museums around the world. Unlike many of the drawings and paintings of the dodo, this model shows the dodo as being quite a slim bird.

Some of the old paintings of dodos were drawn from birds that had been brought back from Mauritius to Europe. They were not fed their proper diet, and got fat - this is why dodos may look quite bloated in these pictures.

This is an old painting of a dodo that hangs in the Museum. Do you think it is a very realistic painting?

The dodo looks much fatter than the model is on display in the Museum - why do you think this is?

This is an old painting of a dodo that hangs in the Museum. Do you think it is a very realistic painting?

The dodo looks much fatter than the model is on display in the Museum - why do you think this is?

We know that the dodo died out soon after people settled on Mauritius. This is an old picture of what the early settlement of Mauritius may have looked like. Can you see the dodo in the picture?

Looking at the picture, you can see various activities that the settlers did on a day-to day basis. Do you think that they may have changed the landscape? How do you think this affected the dodo?

Fact file

See our collections of images and photographs tracing the history of the Dodo bird