Mass Grave Of Dodo Birds Found

A mass grave of Dodo's which have been extnct since the landing of western man on Mauritius has been found on the island. Baby chicks and a rare "peak" has been found in the grave and scientists are hoping it will tell them more about the plump flightless bird


www.abc.net.au...

Dodo 'mass grave' found in Mauritius
A mass grave of dodos, the famous flightless bird whose name became synonymous with stupidity, has been uncovered in Mauritius, scientists said.
The rare find will enable researchers to discover more about what happened to the bird, native to the Indian Ocean Island, which became extinct in the late 17th century.
Scientists from the Dutch Natural History Museum in Leiden said the remains were at least 2,000 years old. /

A mass grave of Dodos? Does that mean there was some sort of Dodo genocide? Or that Dodos had a "graveyard" like elephants? Or maybe there was just this big hole in the ground, and the Dodos kept walking into it? "Whoop-- there goes another one."

I know it's probably in poor taste, but I keep thinking of some alien race in some far-flung future discovering a human mass grave, and reporting it in the same way, complete with the line "Its name is similar to the Antarean word for "fool."

Okay, so maybe it's in poor taste and not particularly funny, but it still made me laugh. Or at least smile sort of wanly...

Yes, Bob, you are correct in that your humor is in poor taste. This is probably why I found it very entertaining! However, please, let's not take away from this thread by turning it into a joke, you Dodo-Head!

Sorry, I couldn't help it; it was bigger than the both of me!

Seriously, do you think the Anterians will think less of us because of a mass grave or two? I mean, less that they must already think of us by capturing stray television signals?

It's the "mass grave" reference, more than anything else. "Mass grave" is normally such a loaded and ominous phrase-- calling to mind images of genocidal soldiers machine-gunning groups of ill-fed and ill-clothed civilians and pushing the corpses into enormous holes to be covered by bulldozers.

So I see this image of genocidal Dodos in fatigues machine-gunning groups of ill-fed and ill-clothed (feathered?) Dodos, while other Dodos sit, waiting, bulldozers idling...


Then there's the wholly slapstick image of a big hole in the ground that the Dodos just sort of wandered into. I see them stepping off the edge and out into space, then, like Wile E. Coyote, hanging in midair for a moment before they look down, realize they're no longer on land and fall, stretching-- feet first, then legs, then body, then-- neck stretching, their heads disappear over the edge, eyes wide and unblinking. "Squawk!" *Thump* And the other Dodos look around, looking up, down, between their legs, behind trees, certain that there was another Dodo standing there just a moment ago-- right there, over by the.... "Squawk!" *Thump*


And there's the statement that the bones, particularly if there are complete skeletons, could be worth millions of dollars. Why would anybody search for gold or diamonds when Dodo bones are worth that much? Is there going to be a sudden influx of Dodo prospectors, or it it all already off-limits? I would have to assume the latter, or there would've already been Dodo prospectors all over the island. Are there Dodo bone poachers?

It's just a great story.

I'm bringing this old thread back to life because they've made a new dodo find in Mauritius. They say the current find is more "significant" that the previous find.

I wonder if DNA extraction will be possible with this find....

Nice, post, Hellmutt!

Yes, that's so cool. I heard it in the Dutch news yesterday. There is a Dutch and English team investigating it. They also said that they have strong suspections that the Dutch and Portugese were responsible for eradicating the Dodo's at time of colonization.

The said they have found very good DNA, to investigate what has happened.

[edit on 24/6/2006 by rai76]

So how did the Dodo make a living?

Seriously.

What was their diet and perhaps their range - on more than one Pacific Island?

They survived where they were at due to lack of predators?

Apparently they were successful for a long while.

And maybe, they were easy to catch and good to eat.
A good quality for man - early or not - in my opinion.

Lets hope they can get some DNA out of one of the birds so mankind can see these birds again.

The article notes that they waded into small bodies of water and caught fish there.