National Geographic - USA (2020-08)

Nest

Chick

Adult

height

3 ft

Molting

brown)(dark

Fully

feathered (gray)

Egg

1865

Adventures in Alice's

Wonderland

1601 1602 1605 1626 1866

August September October November December January February March April May

AUSTRAL SUMMER CYCLONE SEASON

Extinct species

Extinct on Mauritius

Mflat-shelled tortoiseauritius giant

Cylindraspis triserrata

Giant skink

Leiolopismmauritianaa

Broad-billed parrot Lophopsittacus

mauritianus

New Dam

First feathers Ad

2

3

4567

1

456 7

Based on early mariner accounts, sketches,
and paintings of dodoes in captivity, the
bird’s image took a fantastical turn. In the
1600s, portraits of comical, squat birds
became the standard for future classics
such as Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.

Females began to ovulate in August.
Nests were built on the ground, per
firsthand accounts; the size, shape,
and number of eggs are unknown.

Chicks hatched and grew to near

adult size within months, perhaps

to better survive cyclone season

in the summer.

Molting dodoes looked as disheveled

as their environment during cyclone

season. As conditions improved, new

feathers began to replace the old.

Like many other creatures o

the dodo depended on the

freshwater pools—often ava

during droughts. It foraged

fruits, and seeds in nearby f

Like many other creatures o

the dodo depended on the

freshwater pools—often ava

during droughts. It foraged

fruits, and seeds in nearby f

THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS

A YEAR IN THE LIFE

BREEDING

EVE CONANT, NGMJULIAN HUME, NATURAL HISTORY M STAFF. SOURCES: DELPHINE ANGST, UNIVERSITY OF BRISTOL; LEON CLAESSENS, MUSEUM, LONDON; ANDREW IWANIUK, UNIVERSITY OF LETHBRIDGE; STIG WAASTRICHT UNIVERSITY; MALSH, NATIONAL M. EUGENIA L. GOLD, SUFFOLK UNIVERSITY; DURBAN NATURAL SCIENCE MUSEUMS SCOTLAND; RAFFAEL WINKLER, NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM BASEL; AGNÈS ANGST (MUSEUM AND AVES 3D; ODERN DODO)

GROWING QUICKLY CHANGING FEATHERS

Recent discoveries help explain how the dodo— RICHRICH ECO ECOSYSTESYSTEMM
smarter and sleeker than once thought—had
adapted to its cyclone-prone environment.
Then in 1598, Europeans, rats, and pigs arrived
in Mauritius and drove dodoes to extinction.