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DODO
Rapphus cucullatus
A relative of the pigeon from Mauritius, this flightless bird was eaten by sailors who used the island as a stopoff point on their voyages to the east. Extinct by the end of the 17th century (possibly around 1681)
"The morning was hardly propitious,
When sailors discovered Mauritius,
They captured the lot,
Stewed them up in a pot,
And pronounced them extinct but delicious"
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Jahangir the fourth Mughal emperor of India(r. 1605-27), kept a vast menagerie of animals and birds. As a proo-zookeeper he kept extensive records of all his acquisitions. He also commisioned the Mughal artist Mansur to paint some of his collection- including an imported Dodo. The painting (from life) lay for many years in the collection of the Institute of Oriental studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Its rediscovery in the 1950's caused a stir in the ornithological world. A beautiful and vivid picture |
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Extract from a picture by R. Savery
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Some drawings in the journal of the ship "Gelderland" of Dodos drawn from life. |
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Cast of the only soft tissue remains of the Dodo. A head and foot.
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And how the head looks today.. |
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To read a great story about the last surviving Dodos go here
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The Ugly Chickens is fiction by the way.
This stamp seems to show an Albino Dodo. |
