R. cucullatus Skeleton or Dodo Bird Height is 27 inches & Dodo bird Skull measures 7 in. Both are museum quality polyurethane rein castings. Made in USA.
The R. cucullatus or Dodo (Raphus cucullatus) is an extinct flightless bird that was endemic to the island of Mauritius, which is east of Madagascar in the Indian Ocean.
The R. cucullatus or Dodo closest genetic relative was the also-extinct Rodrigues solitaire. The two formed the subfamily Raphinae, a clade of extinct flightless birds that were a part of the family which includes pigeons and doves.
The closest living relative of the Dodo is the Nicobar pigeon. A white dodo was once thought to have existed on the nearby island of Réunion, but it is now believed that this assumption was merely confusion based on the also-extinct Réunion ibis and paintings of white Dodos.
Subfossil remains show the R. cucullatus or Dodo was about 3 ft. 3 in. tall and may have weighed 23–39 lb. in the wild.
The Dodo’s appearance in life is evidenced only by drawings, paintings, and written accounts from the 17th century. Since these portraits vary considerably, and since only some of the illustrations are known to have been drawn from live specimens, the dodos’ exact appearance in life remains unresolved, and little is known about its behavior.
It has been depicted with brownish-grey plumage, yellow feet, a tuft of tail feathers, a grey, naked head, and a black, yellow, and green beak. It used gizzard stones to help digest its food, which is thought to have included fruits, and its main habitat is believed to have been the woods in the drier coastal areas of Mauritius.
One account states its clutch consisted of a single egg. It is presumed that the Dodo became flightless because of the ready availability of abundant food sources and a relative absence of predators on Mauritius.
Though the R. cucullatus or Dodo has historically been portrayed as being fat and clumsy, it is now thought to have been well-adapted for its ecosystem.
