“The island had no predators or carnivores and the dodo had no need to flee, so it lost its ability to fly. The dodo was resilient, and perfectly adapted to the island’s habitat, Meijer explains. (Image copyright Mikel Rijsdijk/Dodo Research Programme) The excavation site on the island of Mauritius where the remains of some 500,000 animals were found, victims of an extreme drought some 4,000 years ago. “It is evident that a lot of animals suffered and died during this period, and their populations were greatly reduced,” Meijer continues, “but no species, including the dodo, went extinct during this extreme drought.” Fossil evidence reveals that “all animals were still living and the island’s ecosystem was intact at the time humans arrived in the 1600s.” “Dodos, tortoises, lizards and other animals gathered here because the lake was one of the few sites on the island with fresh water,” says Hanneke Meijer, an ornithologist at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History and one of the paper’s co-authors. Using radiocarbon dating of the bones, oxygen isotope analysis of geologic features on Mauritius and nearby islands, and the study of the island’s water table, the scientists determined the animals died during an extreme drought that lasted several decades. (Image copyright Kenneth Rijsdijk/Dodo Research Programme) Dodo bone in a matrix of mud, seed and other fossils excavated in a dry lake bed on the Island of Mauritius.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |