Scientists have uncovered the secrets of extinct Dodo
English and South African scientists investigated the bones of extinct Dodo and learned how birds behave and why disappeared. The work was published in the journal Scientific Reports.
The last Dodo, aka the Mauritius Dodo was seen in 1662, after 64 years after the arrival to the island by Dutch sailors. Birds disappeared because they were hunted people, and rats brought to the island, ate the eggs of Dodo gnezdovsky on earth. However, biologists believe that the true extent of human impact is difficult to determine, since it is unknown what was the ecosystem of Mauritius in the seventeenth century.
Scientists from the University of Cape town have studied the bones 22 Dodo birds from Museum collections and found out the details of the life of birds.
The study revealed several interesting facts.
Dodo Chicks were hatched in August and quickly reached the size of adult birds.
From November to March in Mauritius, the tropical cyclone season and rapid growth of Chicks enabled them to survive on their own. However, sexual maturity birds were only a few years later: due to the lack of natural predators, the Dodo was not the needs of an accelerated growing up.
After the breeding season, in March, the dodos dropped feathers. According to documentary evidence, the sailors saw the black and taupe of the Dodo. In fact, most of the time the Dodo was indeed a grayish color, and molting birds had a black fluffy tail.
Co-author of the natural history Museum in London, argues that the extinction of the Dodo happened so fast not only because of the person, the climate had an important effect on the existence of birds.
The researchers came to the conclusion that the tropical cyclone season was a difficult time for Dodo. The island was devastated, fruits and leaves blew from the trees and the local fauna had nothing to eat.