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The dodo (Raphus cucullatus) is an extinct flightless bird that was endemic to
the island of Mauritius, which is east of Madagascar in the Indian Ocean. Its
closest genetic relative was the also-extinct Rodrigues solitaire. The two formed
the subfamily Raphinae of the family Columbidae (pigeons and doves). The closest
living relative of the dodo is the Nicobar pigeon. The dodo's name has uncertain
origins; suggested sources include the Dutch "dodaars" (a reference to its knot
of tail feathers) and the Portuguese "doudo" (meaning fool or simpleton).

**Discovery and Naming**
The first widely accepted record of the dodo comes from Dutch sailors in 1598,
the year they arrived on Mauritius. The bird had no natural predators on the
island and had evolved to be fearless of humans, a "naivety" that made it easy to
catch.

**Physical Description**
The dodo is estimated to have stood about 1 metre (3.3 feet) tall. Weight
estimates in the wild vary widely, commonly cited between 10.6 and 17.5 kg
(23 to 39 lb). Knowledge of its appearance relies on paintings, drawings, and
written accounts from the 17th century, which are often inconsistent. It is
generally depicted with brownish-grey plumage, a tuft of tail feathers, yellow
feet, a naked grey head, and a large hooked beak roughly 23 cm (9 in) long, with
a black, yellow, and green colouration. It had small, useless wings and could not
fly. Many depictions show an overly fat bird, which may reflect overfed captive
specimens or exaggeration rather than the wild animal.

**Diet and Behaviour**
The dodo is thought to have eaten fruit, and possibly nuts, seeds, bulbs, and
roots. Like other pigeons, it likely used gizzard stones to help digest food.
Some accounts also suggest it may have eaten crabs and shellfish. It is believed
to have nested on the ground and laid a single egg at a time.

**Extinction**
The dodo became extinct in the 17th century, less than a century after it was
first recorded. The main causes were hunting by sailors and, more significantly,
the introduction of invasive species such as pigs, crab-eating macaques, rats,
dogs, and cats, which ate the dodo's eggs and competed for food, along with the
destruction of its forest habitat. The last widely accepted sighting was in 1662,
though statistical estimates place the actual extinction around 1690. The dodo's
extinction was not immediately recognised, and some considered it a mythical
creature until the 19th century.

**Tambalacoque Hypothesis**
In 1973 it was suggested that the tambalacoque tree of Mauritius was dying out
because its seeds would only germinate after passing through the dodo's digestive
tract, so the tree's decline followed the dodo's extinction. This hypothesis is
disputed, and other explanations (such as germination by other animals or
artificial methods) have been offered.

**Remains**
Few dodo remains survive. The "Oxford Dodo" at the Oxford University Museum of
Natural History includes the only known soft tissue (a head and a foot). Other
remains include skeletons assembled from bones found in the Mare aux Songes swamp
on Mauritius. No complete stuffed dodo exists today.

**Cultural Legacy**
The dodo has become a widely recognised symbol of extinction and of human-caused
obsolescence, immortalised in the English phrase "as dead as a dodo." It appears
as a character in Lewis Carroll's 1865 book "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland,"
where the Dodo is often interpreted as a caricature of the author himself. The
bird also appears on the coat of arms of Mauritius.

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