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The dodo is an extinct bird native only to Mauritius. Its scientific name is Raphus curcullatues. The dodo is a member of the pigeon; it is a bird that could not fly because of its small wings and because of its weight. A dodo weighed between 13 and 23 kg. From the records information and pictures from the dodo, it seems that it was plump, large bird covered in soft, grey feathers, with on its tail a plume of white. It had small wings, which were quite weak to lift the dodo off the ground. Those who saw the bird thought it had no wings and described it as “little winglet”. After the study of the skeleton it was revealed that the dodo had in fact wings but was not used to fly as the penguins wings. The dodo had short and stubby yellow legs with four toes at its end, three in front and one as a thumb in back and all with thick black claws. The heads’ color had a lighter grey than the body and small yellow eyes. The dodo had a hooked and crooked beak; many words had been given to its long beak. It was pale yellow or light green. It was described as grotesque and was one of most distinguishing feature of the dodo. The Portuguese were the first European to discover the dodo in 1505 and by 1681 it was drove to extinction by humans, pigs, rats, feral dogs and monkeys which were introduced by Europeans on the island. The dodos served the humans as food, which was its main purpose. The sailors who frequently visited the island fed on wildlife while staying here, although it seemed that the meat of the dodo was not really tasty. And still it was hunted intensely sometimes the sailors brought back to 50 per day. And those they could not eat, they salted it and brought it back with them. The sailors even tried to bring back alive dodos with them.
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