Evolution in isolation creates some bizarre and unusual traits in species, often created specialized characteristics that are effective only in certain situations and habitats. And although the Dodo bird on the African island of Mauritius, lost its ability to fly, scientists agree that this was not a failure for the now extinct species. In a book written on the island and the species, found in the souvenir shop of any Mauritius luxury hotel, called the The Song of the Dodo, scientist David Quammen states the the Dodo bird’s evolutionary path was in fact a successful path. Evolution happens to allow species to adapt to the local conditions and environment in which one lives and must thrive. This evolutionary path was many million years in the making. At that time when the bird was first introduced to the island, there were no humans, no predators, and all the sustenance necessary for survival was found in the fruit that fell from the trees and was available on the ground.
The birds are commonly thought to lack the ability to fly because they are fat. The storage of fat, is one of the processes of evolution, as quite often food was scarce and the ability to store fat, contributed and was responsible for their survival. Dutch and Portuguese began settling on the island during the 1500 and 1600’s. The birds had no previous reasons to fear human beings, and as such, the ground rooted birds became easy targets for hunting. The birds were calm and friendly, trusting the sailors. Hunting the birds was one contribution to their extinction, as well as the animals that were on the sailor’s ships such as monkeys, rats and pigs. These species did not attack the adult birds, but their young and their eggs. One of the scientists that has studied Mauritius and the Dodo is from the Royal Museum of Scotland, and he states that it was not their weight that affected their survival, as the birds were much thinner and more agile than the caricatures depict. Andrew Kitchener states that they were much more intelligent as well, and will be missed as one of the many species on the list of those that are now extinct.