Dodo (Raphus cucullatus)

2020 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Raphus Cucullatus

scholarly journals The Dodo and the Red Hen, A Saga of Extinction, Misunderstanding, and Name Transfer: A Review

Quaternary ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 4 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anthony S. Cheke ◽  
Jolyon C. Parish
Keyword(s):  
17Th Century ◽  
Raphus Cucullatus

The chronology of observations of two extinct flightless birds in 17th century Mauritius, the dodo (Raphus cucullatus) and the red hen (Aphanapteryx bonasia), and what names or descriptions were used for them, is re-examined. It was concluded that the balance of probabilities is strongly against birds called dodaarsen without descriptions in the 1680s being dodos rather than red hens. The dodo had disappeared earlier due to predation by pigs, but a hiatus in settlement broke observational continuity, yet folklore preserved the name and transferred it to the red hen. The dodo’s extinction thus happened unobserved.

scholarly journals Guide to the Birds of Fiji and Western Polynesia

2003 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 234
Author(s):  
H. F. Recher
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Indian Ocean ◽  
Pacific Islands ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
Raphus Cucullatus ◽  
European Colonization ◽  
The Indian Ocean

FEW taxa have suffered at the expansion of humanity to the extent of the birds of Pacific Islands. Of the 130 or so birds to become extinct as a consequence of European exploration and colonization of the Pacific, most were island birds and most were flightless rails. Not so well understood is the scale of extinctions that accompanied pre-European colonization of the Pacific islands. Only now is the paleontological record revealing the richness of the lost Pacific avifauna much of which can be put on a par with the loss of moas from New Zealand and the Dodo Raphus cucullatus from Mauritius in the Indian Ocean.

scholarly journals Neither slim nor fat: estimating the mass of the dodo (Raphus cucullatus, Aves, Columbiformes) based on the largest sample of dodo bones to date

PeerJ ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
pp. e4110 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anneke H. van Heteren ◽  
Roland C.H. van Dierendonk ◽  
Maria A.N.E. van Egmond ◽  
Sjang L. ten Hagen ◽  
Jippe Kreuning
Keyword(s):  
Natural History ◽  
Body Mass ◽  
Regression Method ◽  
Natural History Museum ◽  
History Museum ◽  
Vast Amount ◽  
Raphus Cucullatus ◽  
The Mean

The dodo (Raphus cucullatus) might be the most enigmatic bird of all times. It is, therefore, highly remarkable that no consensus has yet been reached on its body mass; previous scientific estimates of its mass vary by more than 100%. Until now, the vast amount of bones stored at the Natural History Museum in Mauritius has not yet been studied morphometrically nor in relation to body mass. Here, a new estimate of the dodo’s mass is presented based on the largest sample of dodo femora ever measured (n = 174). In order to do this, we have used the regression method and chosen our variables based on biological, mathematical and physical arguments. The results indicate that the mean mass of the dodo was circa 12 kg, which is approximately five times as heavy as the largest living Columbidae (pigeons and doves), the clade to which the dodo belongs.

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