Raphus cucullatus

Taxonomy

Assessment Information

Geographic Range

Habitat and Ecology

Threats

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Taxonomy [top]

Kingdom	Phylum	Class	Order	Family
ANIMALIA	CHORDATA	AVES	COLUMBIFORMES	RAPHIDAE

Scientific Name:

Raphus cucullatus

Species Authority:

(Linnaeus, 1758)

Common Name/s:

English

–

Dodo

Assessment Information [top]

Red List Category & Criteria:

Extinct ver 3.1

Year Published:

2008

Assessor/s:

BirdLife International

Reviewer/s:

Bird, J., Butchart, S.

History:

2004	–	Extinct
2000	–	Extinct
1994	–	Extinct
1988	–	Extinct

Geographic Range [top]

Range Description:	Raphus cucullatus is known from numerous bones, specimen fragments, reports and paintings from Mauritius⁵. It was last reported from an offshore islet by Iversen in 1662¹, and although there was a report by an escaped slave in 1674 and statistical techniques indicate that it is likely to have persisted until 1690⁷, it is generally considered taht all references to "dodos" thereafter refer to Red Rail Aphanapteryx bonasia⁸.
Range Map:	Click here to open the map viewer and explore range.

Range Description:

Raphus cucullatus is known from numerous bones, specimen fragments, reports and paintings from Mauritius⁵. It was last reported from an offshore islet by Iversen in 1662¹, and although there was a report by an escaped slave in 1674 and statistical techniques indicate that it is likely to have persisted until 1690⁷, it is generally considered taht all references to "dodos" thereafter refer to Red Rail Aphanapteryx bonasia⁸.

Range Map:

Click here to open the map viewer and explore range.

Habitat and Ecology [top]

Habitat and Ecology:	It was mainly a species of the dry lowland forests⁴, although possible mutualism with the upland tambalacoque tree Calvaria major⁶ suggests that it may have ranged into the hills². The species was flightless³ and tame².
Systems:	Terrestrial

Threats [top]

Major Threat(s):	Due to its tameness and large size it was very heavily hunted for food by sailors².

Major Threat(s):

Due to its tameness and large size it was very heavily hunted for food by sailors².

Citation:	BirdLife International 2008. Raphus cucullatus. In: IUCN 2011. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2011.2. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 23 February 2012.
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