Dodo
Videos
The dodo is an extinct flightless bird that was endemic to Mauritius, an island east of Madagascar in the Indian Ocean. The dodo's closest relative was the also-extinct and flightless Rodrigues solita
The Nicobar pigeon is the closest living relative of the dodo.
1848 lithograph of the Oxford specimen's foot, which has been used to sample DNA for genetic analyses
1601 engraving showing Dutch activities on the shore of Mauritius and the first published depiction of a dodo on the left (2, called "Walchvoghel")
Raphina
Videos
The Raphina are a clade of extinct flightless birds formerly called didines or didine birds. They inhabited the Mascarene Islands of Mauritius and Rodrigues, but became extinct through hunting by huma
Skulls of the dodo and Rodrigues solitaire, the latter having been scaled up for comparison
The Nicobar pigeon (Caloenas nicobarica) is the closest living relative of the dodo and the Rodrigues solitaire.
Famous depiction of a dodo with a lesser Antillean macaw (left), Martinique macaw (right), and red rail (bottom)