• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer
Zippy Facts Logo

Zippy Facts

Interesting Random Facts

  • Animals
  • Culture
  • Firsts
  • Food
  • Geography
  • Health
  • History
  • Inventions
  • Language
  • Mythology
  • Odds
  • People
  • Religion
  • Science
  • Space
  • Universe
  • World
You are here: Home / Animals / Was The Dodo Bird A Myth?

Was The Dodo Bird A Myth?

May 6, 2020 by Karen Hill

Although there were paintings of dodos, apparently done from life, there were never any bones or fossils of this extinct creature to be found.

Over a period of years, people began to believe that the dodo, like the unicorn, was just a fanciful legend. One individual who didn’t feel this way was George Clark, a native of the dodo’s island, Mauritius.

In 1863, Clark realized that the volcanic soil on the island was too hard to contain fossils. He became certain that some dodo bones must have been washed up by rains on the muddy delta near the town of Mahebourg. He took an expedition to the site and found that he was right. The area yielded a great quantity of dodo bones.

Later, these bones were assembled into complete skeletons and sent to the museums of the world.

Here, at last, was the missing proof that the dodo bird had actually existed. Did you know that of all the creatures that have become extinct, nine out of ten have been birds?

Related Facts

  • Where did the dodo come from and How did scientists know that the dodo was extinct?
  • Was There Ever Such a Bird as a Dodo?
  • Why did the dodo bird become extinct and where did it come from?
  • Where Did the Dodo Bird Live and How Many People Live In Mauritius?
  • Which Country Has The Largest Bird In The World, A Walking Fish, And A Bird That Can't Fly?
  • How Does a Glass Drinking Bird Work and Who Invented the Drinking Dipping Bird?

Filed Under: Animals

About Karen Hill

Karen Hill is a freelance writer, editor, and columnist. Born in New York, her work has appeared in the Examiner, Yahoo News, Buzzfeed, among others.

Previous Post: « How Does A Seahorse Swim?
Next Post: How Are Penguins Similar To Dolphins? »

Footer

Follow

  • Facebook
  • Flickr
  • GitHub
  • Google+
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Medium
  • Pinterest
  • StumbleUpon
  • Tumblr
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Categories

Accomplishments Animals Culture Firsts Food Geography Health History Inventions Language Mythology Odds People Religion Science Space Universe World Your Body

About

Zippy Facts empowers the world by serving educational content that is accessible to everyone.

A tribute to growing up, zippyfacts.com showcases interesting and unusual facts about the world.

Our mission is to use technology to facilitate knowledge transfer and sharing.

Copyright © 2021 Zippy Facts

  • About Us
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy