Justice at last – Rebirth of the Dodo

Geographic Range – Indian Ocean:

Dodo birds were once endemic of Mauritius, an Island off the Coast of Africa.

UNTIL NOW!! – A RECENT SIGHTING IN THE MASAI HAS RAISED THE QUESTION:  IS THE DODO SPECIES REALLY EXTINCT?? 

This latest sighting is thought to be an adaptation of the Raphus Solitarius, and has been named:  S o l i t a r I u s    E n t r e p r e n e u r u s

So…We now have a FOURTH  Dodo Species:

Mauricio´s dodo (Raphus cucullatus). He was a big bird, with the head almost nude of feathers. He had no wings, having instead 3 or 4 blackish feathers. The tail, with a few soft and twisted plumes, was greyish. The body was near white (see figure).

Reunion´s dodo (Raphus solitarius). Like the Mauricio´s dodo, except for the plumes that were really white. Perhaps less fat.

Rodriguez´s dodo (Pezophaps solitaris). He was the biggest of the three dodos. The males could reach 20 kg of weight and the 80 cm of height. His wings reached a longer span too and had a bony protuberance for defense.

Masai Mara’s dodo (Solitarius Entrepreneurus).  A descendant of Raphus solitarius also with white down, but no plumes, and less fat.  Due to his ability to survive the last 4 centuries AND reside undetected, he is deemed to be the more astute, resourceful of the species, and have more smarts.  Further, his ability to skim across water further distinguishes him.

                                                                                                                        Solitarius Entrepreneurus

Note the further similarities with its ancestor, R. Solitarius (the middle Island – white plumage).

The dodo's legs were short and stubby and yellow in color. On the end of the legs were four toes, three in front and one acting as a thumb in back, all with thick, black claws.  [This most recently sighted species has green legs, and his feet are cleverly camouflaged, to hide his lineage].  The head was a lighter grey than the body, with small, yellow eyes.

Many words have been devoted to the long, crooked and hooked beak, which was light green or pale yellow in color and was one of the most distinguishing features of the dodo. [Note the pronounced beak protruding from the mouth; the smooth white featherless down and head; the longer build, AND the vacant seat – hence its derivation from the Solitaire.  No doubt his mate has been dispatched to take care of an unwelcome intruder]:

[Leguat described the birds' odd nesting behaviour. For example, a pair would not allow any other R. Solitaire near the nest. If intruders did appear, males would drive off rival males, while females dealt with females. Whenever a male was confronted with a female intruder it called its partner to chase off the stranger].

Those who saw it, marveled at the unique shape and size.

So rapid and complete was their extinction that they became associated in the minds of many with the Griffin and Phoenix of mythological antiquity. 

Since it died out in the 17th century, the dodo has been depicted as a lumbering, fat bird, ripe for extinction. The reality was very different... as you can see from the 1st picture and latest sighting.

BUT…The dodo did not suffer from a lack of smarts, for…………:

How did such similar species arrive at two islands in the same corner of a huge ocean, and now found in Mainland Africa?

These questions are answered below……….

QUESTION:  How did the Dodo and the Solitaire, (and now the Entreprenuerus), distinct though they are, arise apparently independently on islands that must be counted close neighbours by the yardstick of the Indian Ocean, but which are nevertheless nearly 600 km apart and thus too far for a flightless bird to make the passage?

ANSWER:  This author postulates that it is due to viral spanning.  Also, note the misnomer of “Web” – the Dodo species were thought to have web feet, where in fact on the end of the legs were four toes. 

It was thought that this foot structure was ideal for wading in streams (they liked to eat river stones to aid their digestion).  I would like to point out here that the word Master is but an anagram of Stream – yet another adaptation – and with this modified foot (alias Web), the Entrepreneurus developed the capacity to skim across water, hence his arrival on the Coast of Africa.

Whereupon he came across another big white metallic bird and was transported to Kenya, where the inhabitants presumed he had escaped from the Masai.  He happily, fearlessly and trustfully, went along for the ride.

A note here on diet.  In the tropics, the dodo would have had to depend on seasonal fruits and other herbage accessible from the ground. So, the argument goes, each bird would have to grow fat when food was plentiful to survive the privations of the thin season. That accords with accounts from the seventeenth century of the cycles of fattening and slimming of the dodo.

Summer Habitat                                      Winter Habitat

All in all, then, it seems that the dodo was much slimmer than we thought. This raises a further question: could it have won the Caucus-race in Alice in Wonderland, the method chosen by Carroll's fictional dodo and animal friends to dry themselves after swimming through Alice's tears?             

"... the Dodo solemnly gave her the thimble, pronouncing with graceful voice theese words: «We plead you, distinguished friend, to accept this elegant thimble»." Alice in Wonderland. Lewis Carrol

Moral of the Story:  Yesterday’s feathers may become tomorrow’s Web Masters

http://www.davidreilly.com/dodo/anatomy.html

New Scientist Planet Science

http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Prairie/2250/dodo_ei.html

The Tragedy of the Dodo
The Dodo Bird Page
As Dead as Dodo
Extinct: The Dodo Bird
Die Dronte
LEWIS, the living dodo
The Mauritius Encyclopedia               

                                    NOTE: All Sites prior to Extinct…… are not current

Mauritius Encyclopedia; http://www.encyclopedia.mu/Nature/Fauna/Birds/Extinct/Dodo.htm

Oxford Uni Museum:     http://www.oum.ox.ac.uk/dodo.htm

                                    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dodo