Skip to main content
Log in

The end of the fat dodo? A new mass estimate for Raphus cucullatus

  • Short Communication
  • Published:
Naturwissenschaften Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

A new mass estimate for the dodo (Raphus cucullatus), based on the lengths of the femur, tibiotarsus and tarsometatarsus, is attempted. The obtained mean mass is 10.2 kg, which is less than previous estimates based on other methods, which ranged from 10.6 to 21.1 kg, and much lower than the 50 lbs reported by a seventeenth-century eyewitness. The new estimated mass, which is similar to that of a large wild turkey, seems more realistic than previous ones and supports the hypothesis that contemporary illustrations of extremely fat dodos were either exaggerations, or based on overfed specimens. Pictures of “fat” dodos may also have been based on individuals exhibiting a display behaviour with puffed out feathers.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3

References

  • Cheke A, Hume JP (2008) Lost land of the dodo. T & AD Poyser, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Folch A (1992) Rheidae (rheas). In: del Hoyo J, Elliott A, Saragatal J (eds) Handbook of the birds of the world, vol 1. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona, pp 84–89

    Google Scholar 

  • Herbert T (1634) A relation of some yeares’ travaile, begunne Anno 1626, into Afrique and the greater Asia, especially the territories of the Persian Monarchie, and some parts of the Oriental Indies and Isles adiacent. W Stansby & J Bloome, London.

  • Hume JP (2006) The history of the Dodo Raphus cucullatus and the penguin of Mauritius. Hist Biol 18:65–89

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Iwanow I (1958) An Indian picture of the dodo. J Ornithol 99:438–440

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kitchener A (1993) On the external appearance of the dodo, Raphus cucullatus (L., 1758). Arch Nat Hist 20:279–301

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Livezey B (1993) An ecomorphological review of the dodo (Raphus cucullatus) and solitaire (Pezophaps solitaria), flightless columbiformes of the Mascarene Islands. J Zool 230:247–292

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lüttschwager J (1961) Die Drontevögel. Die Neue Brehm-Bücherei, A. ZiemsenVerlag, Wittenberg Lutherstadt

  • Oudemans AC (1917) Dodo-studien. Verhand Koninkl Akad Wetensch Amsterdam 19:1–140

    Google Scholar 

  • Porter WF (1994) Meleagrididae (turkeys). In: del Hoyo J, Elliott A, Saragatal J (eds) Handbook of the birds of the world, vol 2. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona, pp 364–375

    Google Scholar 

  • Strickland HE, Melville AG (1848) The dodo and its kindred. Reeve, Benham & Reeve, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Zeffer A, Johansson LC, Marmebro Å (2003) Functional correlation between habitat use and leg morphology in birds (Aves). Biol J Linn Soc 79:461–484

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ziswiler V (1996) Der Dodo. Fantasien und Fakten zu einem verschwundenen Vogel. Zoologisches Museum der Universität Zürich, Zürich

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

Thanks to all those who provided measurements or information about specimens in their care: Ernst Bauernfeind (Vienna), Georges Lenglet (Brussels), Majken Them Tøttrup and Jon Fjeldså (Copenhagen), Jeremy M. Adams (Brighton), Matt Lowe (Cambridge, UK), Sandra Chapman and Joanne Cooper (London), Joël Clary and Didier Berthet (Lyon), James P. Dean (Washington, D.C.), Paul R. Sweet and Peter Capainolo (New York), Scott V. Edwards and Jeremiah Trimble (Cambridge, Massachusetts), Peter Howlett (Cardiff), Graham Avery (Capetown), Kenneth F. Rijsdijk (Leyden), Jérôme Tabouelle (Elbeuf), Ronan Allain, Claire Sagne and Anne Préviato (Paris), Julian Pender Hume (Tring). We thank Jonathan Barnoud for his help with statistics, and four anonymous reviewers for their comments on the original MS.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Eric Buffetaut.

Electronic supplementary material

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

Table 1

Table showing lengths of femora, tibiotarsi and tarsometatarsi of Raphus cucullatus, with estimated body masses for each measurement. The equations used and the parameters for the various bones are provided (after Zeffer et al. 2003). A list of collections holding the bones used in the present study is shown at the bottom (DOC 38 400 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Angst, D., Buffetaut, E. & Abourachid, A. The end of the fat dodo? A new mass estimate for Raphus cucullatus . Naturwissenschaften 98, 233–236 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00114-010-0759-7

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00114-010-0759-7

Keywords

Navigation