Dodo is a large, flightless bird that lived on the island of Mauritius in the Indian Ocean. The dodo was a close relative of the pigeons and doves, and it is thought that it evolved from a flying ancestor. The last known dodo died in 1681, and the species is now extinct.
The dodo is an extinct flightless bird that was native to the island of Mauritius in the Indian Ocean. The dodo's closest genetic relative was the also extinct Rodrigues solitaire, the two forming the subfamily Raphinae of the family of pigeons and doves.
The dodo's appearance in life is evidenced only by drawings, paintings, and written accounts from the 17th century. Though the dodo has been extinct since the mid-to-late 17th century, its name has become a synonym for obsolescence or extinction.
The first recorded mention of the dodo was by Dutch sailors in 1598. In the following years, the bird was hunted by sailors and invasive species, leading to its demise. The last widely accepted sighting of a dodo was in 1662, and the last recorded sighting was in 1693.
Some subfossil remains have been found on the island of Mauritius, and dodo bones were reported to have been found in the 19th century in the dodo bird colony on the small island of R茅union, but none of these reports has been substantiated.
