Dodo bird (Raphus cucullatus)

The Dodo (Raphus cucullatus) also known as the Dronte, is an extinct bird species.

This is a small pack that features a:
- 1 land impact 3D mesh Dodo (silent)
- 1 land impact 3D mesh Dodo (that will randomly give its call). I created a unique, but plausible call for the Dodo by slightly altering the call of its close living relative - the Cresced Victoria Pigeon.
- 5 land impact museum 3D Dodo specimen, complete with a glass casing and plaque (see screenshots).
- 2 land impact Dodo nest with eggs (see attached screenshot)

This mesh bird, its shape and coloring is closely based on the recent reconstruction of London's Natural History Museum. The colors mirror those found on a color painting made by an eye-witness (Mughal artist Ustad Mansur).

The Dodo is perhaps the most well known and recognized of all extinct bird species, even making its way to english language through the phrase "Dead as a Dodo".

It was a large, flightless bird that inhabited the island of Mauritius. It went extinct in the latter part of the 17th century, shortly after humans colonized the island bringing with them rats, pigs and other foreign species.

Contrary to widespread beliefs, scientists now think that hunting was not the cause of the extinction of this species. Early Dutch sources describe the Dodo as having bad taste and having very tough, stringly meat. Archeologists digging through Dutch refuse piles found a huge number of goat, pig and even rat bones - but not a single Dodo bone. Moreover, the entire human population on Mauritius at that time never exceeded more than 100 people. The most probable explanation was that pigs, maqaques and rats that arrived on dutch ships killed the species off by feeding on its eggs and young. After being extinct on the main island of Mauritius, the Dodo managed for some time to survive on small offshore islets. Rats were unable to swim to the offshore islets, as a result these became the last refuge for the Dodo. However it seems that the groups of Dodos on these tiny iles were simply too small in number and too isolated from each other to sucessfully procreate. It is assumed that by 1700 no living Dodo remained.

Recent reconstructions based on surviving skeletons calculate that the Dodo had significant muscle mass. This was an agile, fast-running fligtless bird that must have moved much faster than for example a Kiwi. Dutch accounts describe the Dodo as an "audacious", "fierce" bird that could cause dangerous wounds with its large strong bill. According to the Dutch settlers, the Dodo could and would defend itself.

Myth: The Dodo was a slumped, plump, grey bird.

Fact: Skeletal reconstruction, as well as drawings by Dutch and Mughal eye-witnesses depict the dodo as standing much more upright than later european art would have us believe. A color painting of the Dodo made by an eye-witness (Mughal artist Ustad Mansur) actually depicts it as an upright, brown-colored bird with even darker legs and head.