The dodo is descended from birds that could fly, and other extant species that are in the same family Columbidae, which includes pigeons and doves, can fly. As natives of an island with no predators the ancestors of the dodo no longer needed flight as an adaptation to escape.

Over-harvesting of the birds, combined with habitat loss and a losing competition with the newly introduced animals, was too much for the dodos to survive. The last dodo was killed in 1681, and the species was lost forever to extinction.

Here we use a statistical method to establish the actual extinction time of the dodo as 1690, almost 30 years after its most recent sighting. Its last confirmed sighting was in 1662, although an escaped slave claimed to have seen the bird as recently as 1674.

“The dodo was quite a brown-grey bird, and during the moulting it had downy, black plumage,” explained Dr Angst.

The first recorded mention of the dodo was by Dutch sailors in 1598. In the following years, the bird was hunted by sailors and invasive species, while its habitat was being destroyed. The last widely accepted sighting of a dodo was in 1662.

Yes, little dodos are alive, but they are not well. The little dodo, also known by the names Manumea and tooth-billed pigeon, have been pushed onto the endangered species list from threats like habitat loss, hunting and the introduction of non-native species.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The dodo is an extinct flightless bird whose name has become synonymous with stupidity. The research suggests the dodo, rather than being stupid, boasted at least the same intelligence as its fellow members of the pigeon and dove family. …

If the dodo were to be brought back, it could be restored to protected habitats on [the island nation of] Mauritius, where people could go to observe dodos in their native habitat.

Here’s our list of 14 extinct animals considered for de-extinction through cloning.

• of 14. Woolly Mammoth. Mauricio Antón / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY 2.5.
• of 14. Tasmanian Tiger.
• of 14. Pyrenean Ibex.
• of 14. Saber-Toothed Cats.
• of 14. Moa.
• of 14. Dodo.
• of 14. Ground Sloth.
• of 14. Carolina Parakeet.

CHEYENNE, Wyo. — Scientists have cloned the first U.S. endangered species, a black-footed ferret duplicated from the genes of an animal that died over 30 years ago. The slinky predator named Elizabeth Ann, born Dec.

ATLANTA—A cataclysm may have jump-started life on Earth. A new scenario suggests that some 4.47 billion years ago—a mere 60 million years after Earth took shape and 40 million years after the moon formed—a moon-size object sideswiped Earth and exploded into an orbiting cloud of molten iron and other debris.