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Dodo Bird Evolution and Ancestry Insights

The dodo bird evolved from Southeast Asian pigeons, with its closest living relative being the Nicobar pigeon. Analysis of dodo bird DNA in 2002 found it was closely related to and within the pigeon family Columbidae. The dodo played an important role in seed dispersal for the now endangered tambalacoque tree on Mauritius, and became a symbol of extinction after its discovery and literature like Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.

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49 views7 pages

Dodo Bird Evolution and Ancestry Insights

The dodo bird evolved from Southeast Asian pigeons, with its closest living relative being the Nicobar pigeon. Analysis of dodo bird DNA in 2002 found it was closely related to and within the pigeon family Columbidae. The dodo played an important role in seed dispersal for the now endangered tambalacoque tree on Mauritius, and became a symbol of extinction after its discovery and literature like Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.

Uploaded by

Eli S
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

Phylogenetic

History

of Dodo Birds
Evolutionary History

Major reasons:

1. Complete lack of transitional forms


2. No evidence of its evolution

 There’s a large number of bones for the Soltaire Dodo


 NO BONES exists for the White dodo (only drawings made by travelers)
Where did Dodos evolved from?
– Tooth-billed pigeons (Fuller)
- “little pigeons”
- one of the closest living relative

– African fruit pigeons (Kitchener)

- Genus: Treron; Family: Columbidae (“green bird”)

“and its presumed close relative the solitaire (Pezophaps solitaria) with the Columbiformes (pigeons

and doves), but their exact position is unresolved” – [morphological studies]


In 2002 (Shapiro et. al)
- analyzed the DNA of
dodo birds for the first time
- compared
mitochondrial cytochrom b
from the tarsal of an Oxford
specimen and a femur of a
Rodriguez solitaire

Findings:
1. Close relationship and placement within
the Columbidae

2. Southeast Asian Nicobar Pigeon to be their


closest living relative followed by:

• Crowned Pigeon of New Guinea

• Tooth-billed Pigeon
CLADOGRAM

Victoria Crowned Pigeon

Nicobar Pigeon

Dodo

Tooth Billed Pigeon


EVOLUTIONARY
SIGNIFICANCE
 Tambalacoque Trees (dodo tree)
- Lifespan of 300 years
- Fruits eaten by dodo

Discovery: “The tree’s seeds are encased in a thick-walled protective coat, but the dodo’s
stone-filled gizzard was able to exert a powerful crushing pressure on them, cracking it a
little, but not enough to damage the seed inside. When eventually deposited by the dodo, the
seed was able to germinate”

Solution: Imported American Turkeys (similar to dodos digestion)


 Featured in European Literature
- symbol for exotic lands, and gluttony

 Alice’s Adventure in Wonderland (Lewis Carroll’s)


- 1865, when George Clark started to publish reports about excavated
dodo fossils
- “icon of extinction”

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