Dodo Bird Raphus Cucullatus, Extinct
by Biodiversity Heritage Library
Title
Dodo Bird Raphus Cucullatus, Extinct
Artist
Biodiversity Heritage Library
Medium
Photograph - Photograph
Description
Didus ineptus (Didus and Raphus being names for the dodo genus used by different authors of the time). In 1766, Linnaeus coined the new binomial Didus ineptus (meaning inept dodo). This has become a synonym of the earlier name Raphus cucullatus. The Dodo is an extinct flightless bird. Its external appearance is evidenced only by paintings and written accounts from the 17th century. Because these vary considerably, and because only a few sketches are known to have been drawn from live specimens, its exact appearance in life remains a mystery, and little is known with about its habitat and behavior Roughly the size of a swan, it was heavily-built, flightless and clumsy. Two species were known with certainty the common dodo Raphus cucullatus from Mauritius which became extinct between 1665 and 1670, and the Rodriguez solitaire (Pezophaps solitaria) from the neighboring island of Rodriguez, which died out around 1761. The dodo's numbers quickly dwindled following the arrival of humans to these isolated habitats. All but defenseless these birds were ill-equipped to cope with the new hunters and the competition from other introduced animal species. The Dodo achieved widespread recognition from its role in the story of Alice in Wonderland. Taken from "Naturgeschichte des Thierreichs (Natural history of the Animal Kingdom) by Georg Heinrich Borowski and Johann Friedrich Wilhelm Herbst, published in Berlin 1780-89.
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July 12th, 2015
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