The name “dodo” is thought to be derived from its sound, being described as “doo-doo”. Paleontologist Julian Pender Hume, a research associate at the Natural History Museum (NHM) in London, told Vice that the so-called taxidermied dodo on display at NHM is made of goose and swan. Apparently, these birds were fast and able to manoeuvre very efficient through the forests.

The dodo had very small wings and couldn’t fly, but research showed that the wings weren’t vestigial and probably used for balance and display. It probably used this bill to fight rivals, because fractures in bones have been discovered. The bird stood about a meter high and had a huge bill. The dodo is one of the most famous extinct animals that ever lived on our planet, but there are many uncertainties about this plump and flightless relative of the modern-day pigeons. Very fat depictions of dodo probably originate from fattened individuals that were brought to Europe as gifts or research objects. This depiction is believed to be the most accurate of a live dodo ever made. It is now thought that dodos would have been slimmer than they have typically been depicted.The colouration of the dodo is based upon the painting made by Ustad Mansur in 1625. The Museum also holds two of the most famous paintings of dodos: a copy of George Edwards' colourful 1758 depiction and Jan Savery's 1651 image of a plumper dodo. Today, what remains of the original specimen is the skull with left side of skin, the sclerotic ring from the eye, the skeleton of the foot, the sectioned femur, a feather (removed from the head in 1986) and various tissue samples taken over the years. It is currently not known how the Tradecants acquired their dodo specimen or the extent of the original specimen. This specimen is first listed in 1656 in a catalogue of the Tradescant collection as 'Dodar, from the Island Mauritius it is not able to flie, being so big'. Unfortunately, it was hunted to extinction about 400 years ago. They lived on fruit and nested on the ground. Step 1: The Dodo was a slow moving bird that lived on the island of Mauritius in the Indian Ocean. These birds were about a metre tall and weighed about 20kg. One of the three, the so-called ‘Oxford Dodo’, is a specimen that was part of the Tradescant collection, one of the founding collections of the Ashmolean Museum at the University of Oxford. Jan Savery painting, 1651 George Edwards painting, 1759 The dodo was a flightless bird, first encountered by Europeans in the late 16th century on the island of Mauritius in the Indian Ocean. Only three dodo specimens from this period exist, despite records of living dodos being brought from Mauritius. The last confirmed sighting of a dodo was in 1662 by the 1700s, it was considered extinct. These animals spread across the island, destroying dodo habitats and eating their eggs. The tale of the dodo’s decline begins in 1598, when Dutch sailors first encountered them. From early accounts, many of the Mauritian birds were tame and easily approached, and so easily caught by humans. But the species’ rapid decline was probably caused by the dogs, cats, rats and pigs that the sailors had brought with them. First, give each child his or her own pencil and a white sheet of construction paper. They lived on fruit and nested on the ground. This activity is a great way to teach kids a few facts about dodo birds.

The dodo was a flightless bird, first encountered by Europeans in the late 16th century on the island of Mauritius in the Indian Ocean.

Real dodo drawing