The Dodo and Its Relatives

Jasinský Z.

The Dodo and solitaires from the family Columbidae had occurred on the Mascarenes Archipelago in the Indian Ocean by the time of its colonisation by Europeans. In the 17th and 18th centuries, they became extinct. Hence there are nowadays only skeletal remnants, drawings and references in literature recording information from indigenous inhabitants and explorers who were lucky enough to observe these remarkable birds. Based on these data, three species are now distinguished: the Dodo (Raphus cucullatus) endemic to Mauritius, Rodrigues Solitaire (Pezophaps solitaria) from Rodrigues and Réunion Solitaire also known as the White Dodo (Raphus solitarius) from Réunion. According to some authors, the latter in fact would be a flightless ibis named Threskiornis solitarius.

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