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Did The Dodo Sing?

Did The Dodo Sing?

Dodo bird, painted by Roelant Savery c. 1626 (credit: UK Natural History Museum/Wikipedia)

Did the Dodo have a song? Did it screech like an owl? have a cackling laugh like a kookaburra? or  clacked beaks like penguins? No one knows since the Dodo is extinct.

The Dodo was discovered peacefully living on the Indian Ocean island of Mauritius in 1598. The flightless bird was easy to catch but their rapid decline was due less from meat hunting than from impacts caused by introduced rats, cats, and pigs. These feral, invasive animals destroyed its habitat and ate the eggs of this ground-nesting bird. By 1680 the Dodo was extinct and almost became mythological to future generations. In David Quammnen's excellent book The Song of the Dodo, covering biogeography and species distribution, the bird's extinction and many other issues affected by biodiversity loss are addressed. A short history of the Dodo, its island evolution, and extinction from invasive species is shown in this animation. 

However, things could potentially change if de-extinction research proves successful. A Texas enterprise, Colossal Biosciences, is developing bio-technological tools that could potentially bring back the Dodo as well as two other, also extinct, iconic animals. According to Colossal, they are sequencing DNA extracted from a Dodo skull in a Danish museum to build a genetic map of its complete genome. The Dodo is essentially a large, flightless pigeon that evolved on an island that lacked predators. Wings were not necessary there. Its closest living relative is another pigeon that is native to the Nicobar Islands also in the Indian Ocean. This bird will provide cell embryos for editing with Dodo-specific DNA once its sequencing and associated physical traits is known. Chicken eggs will be used to receive the new embryos, potentially producing dodo chicks if and when they hatch.

Colossal has partnered with the Maurtius Wildlife Foundation to restore habitats as part of their Dodo restoration plans when, and if, birds are recreated. For the company, these de-extinction efforts are an engine for novel innovations that could be applied elsewhere. No date has been announced for the first chicks to potentially hatch. Time will tell if the Dodo can sing. WHB

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