The history of the Dodo Raphus cucullatus and the penguin of Mauritius

Abstract

More has been written about the dodo Raphus cucullatus of Mauritius than any other bird. However, much of the information has been derived from few genuine but inadequate contemporary accounts and illustrations, yet a wealth of assumptions and over zealous mis-interpretation about dodos' ecology and morphology has taken place. Here all aspects of the dodo's ecological history, contemporary accounts and illustrations, importation of specimens and fossil record are examined, and evidence is provided to suggest that many conclusions based on the available data are problematic.

Keywords:

• Raphus cucullatus
• Mauritius
• Dodo
• penguin

Acknowledgements

The Rothschild library, Tring, has proved invaluable during the research of this paper and I am indebted to librarian Alison Harding and former librarian Effie Warr for their assistance. I would also like to thank the staff of the Algemeen Rijksarchief, Den Haag, Netherlands, for access to original Dutch Journals. I would particularly like to thank Robert Prys-Jones, David Martill, Mike Barker and Cyril Walker for helpful comments during the preparation of this paper.