Animals - Evolution and biodiversity - Dodo - Birds - Extinct animals
To which group of birds living today was the dodo particularly closely related?
Correct!
The dodo (Raphus cucullatus) hardly looked like a pigeon, with its massive body, powerful beak and inability to fly. In fact, it developed from pigeon-like ancestors and belongs to the family of pigeon birds. The closest relative living today is the colorful Nicobar pigeon (Caloenas nicobarica), which occurs in South and Southeast Asia. The resemblance is hardly visible on the outside - that's exactly why the relationship is ideal as a quiz question. The dodo lived exclusively in Mauritius in the Indian Ocean. There, over a long period of time without any major land-dwelling predators, it developed into a large, ground-dwelling and flightless bird. This quickly changed after the permanent arrival of humans. In addition to hunting, introduced animals such as pigs, rats, dogs and cats were particularly problematic because they endangered dodos and their eggs and offspring. The last generally considered reliable sighting dates back to 1662. By the way, the dodo was probably not at all the extremely fat and clumsy bird of many classic illustrations. More recent reconstructions assume a slimmer and more agile animal, approximately 70 centimeters tall and weighing around 12 kilograms.
The dodo was a flightless island bird related to the pigeons. The closest relative alive today is the Nicobar pigeon.
