Drought Dand Death Draps Decimated Dodos

Adam Khor

Alliteration intended :pac:

This doesn´t mean this was the cause of the dodo's extinction, its just something that seemingly dragged many of them (and Mauritius giant tortoises as well) into a muddy grave.

http://news.sciencemag.org/sciencenow/2012/03/death-by-dry-spell.html?rss=1

Rubecula

The fact that they were both delicious also has a bearing I think.

Kess73

Going by old log reports etc, the Dodo was meant to have had not so tasty meat.

Galvasean

Kess73 wrote: »

Going by old log reports etc, the Dodo was meant to have had not so tasty meat.

Apparently it was very greasy and tough to chew. Gave many a sailor 'problems' in the morning if what I have read is true.

*Hmm, it would seem the thread title has evolved somehow...

Adam Khor

Galvasean wrote: »

Apparently it was very greasy and tough to chew. Gave many a sailor 'problems' in the morning if what I have read is true.

*Hmm, it would seem the thread title has evolved somehow...

Isn´t evolution wonderful?

I think they said recently that it wasn´t so much direct hunting what wiped out dodos, but the introduction of exotic animals that preyed on the eggs and young...
There's no doubt that people did kill dodos but like you said, seems that their meat wasn´t very good...

Galvasean

The documentary series/book 'Extinct' stated that the dodo would only lay one egg every second year. Apparently introduced alien pigs were prone to nest raiding meaning disaster for the local dodos. That is supposed to be the main reason behind their downfall.
I remember an old theory was that introduced cats hunted the dodo, but modern research suggests a plucky dodo was more than a match for a cat and felines would do well not to annoy said bird.

Adam Khor

Yeah, I remember reading that as well. Also, seems that they weren´t as defenseless before humans as old books say- they could and would bite and were quite fast runners.

Kess73

Galvasean wrote: »

The documentary series/book 'Extinct' stated that the dodo would only lay one egg every second year. Apparently introduced alien pigs were prone to nest raiding meaning disaster for the local dodos. That is supposed to be the main reason behind their downfall.
I remember an old theory was that introduced cats hunted the dodo, but modern research suggests a plucky dodo was more than a match for a cat and felines would do well not to annoy said bird.

At almost 3.5 foot tall, weighing as much as 50lbs, and armed with a very sturdy beak it would indeed be more than capable of discouraging a domestic cat.

An average male mute swan would be half the weight of a dodo and almost of similar height just to give an idea as to the size of a Dodo.