![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() (2016) who estimated the mass at 10.6–14.3 kg, and van Heteren et al. (2011) who estimated the mass at 10.2 kg, Brassey et al. Recent body mass estimates include Angst et al. There seems also to have probably been a fair amount of copying earlier depictions, thus propagating the ‘plump’ characteristic. It is thought that the reason for the plumpness in some drawings might be either seasonal fat cycles or that pictures were based on over-fed captive birds. The plump depiction is disputed, however, based on modern body mass estimation techniques. Most famously, the ‘Savery dodo’ probably formed the basis for the 1865 Dodo drawing by Sir John Tenniel, illustrating Louis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. The traditional drawings are likely to have been influenced by an artwork by Flemish painter Roelandt Savery around 1626, who depicted a squat, short-legged, awkward-looking bird. Reading the various papers on the dodo the one consistent theme is that existing depictions are fatter than the bird would have been. This is what we came up with, and how we got there (Tim’s notes are in blue). My job was to use available science as a guide, but then add creativity in interpreting the best written accounts and artworks, whilst attempting to weed out the hearsay and doodles. Tim reviewed all the scientific papers published to date I trawled the internet and poured over a fantastic book by Errol Fuller, ‘Dodo: From Extinction to Icon” (2002). Tim (a scientist) and I decided it would be fun to try and come up with a drawing that more accurately represented this curious, misunderstood bird. It was another couple of hundred years before scientists became interested in the dodo, but by that time almost no evidence remained and the mystery of the dodo has persisted until now. Once their island home of Mauritius was colonised by humans and other invasive species that came with them, this poor bird’s fate was quickly sealed. Estimates vary on the actual date of extinction, but the dodo had almost certainly become rare only 30 years after being ‘discovered’ in 1598. Most of us would be familiar with the phrase, “dead as a dodo”. The unenviable link to extinction, although tragic, is fair. Most notably, it has been fat shamed for centuries! As it turns out, our infamous emblem for extinction didn’t look anything like you think it did. Mr Dodgson's pen name was Lewis Carroll and among the children he brought along was a girl named Alice.When you think of a dodo, what comes to mind? A grotesquely obese bird? Or the word ‘extinction’ perhaps? I would have said much the same, until last year when I was commissioned to draw one by an avid fan of this iconic bird. This dodo would inspire Mr Dodgson to create a character of a dodo in a new children's book. In the years that followed, countless people saw the dodo at the Oxford museum.Īmong them was a maths lecturer by the name of Charles Dodgson, who would bring his friend's children on visits to the collection. ![]() Musaeum Tradescantianum housed all manner of curiosities - including the then-deceased dodo - which were later gifted to Oxford University. The Tradescant family, in addition to being gardeners for royalty, also set up the first public museum in England. The Mauritian Wildlife Foundation's Mr Tatayah says, "the dodo that was on show in London is most probably the one that the Tradescant family acquired." This included a dead bird which he called a "dodar from the island of Mauritius" which "is not able to flie being so big." John Tradescant, the gardener to King Charles II, collected natural curiosities. ![]()
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