Two recent papers claiming to offer reasons to support a late (1680s þ ) extinction date for the Dodo Raphus cucullatus base their arguments on information that does not in fact alter the biological and historical facts suggesting extinction on mainland Mauritius in the 1640s and on an offshore refuge in 1662. Recently accessible manuscripts indicating that the Dutch settlers in Mauritius saw no Dodos during 1664–1674 reinforce this view.

Keywords: Raphus cucullatus; Aphanapteryx bonasia; Red Hen; Mauritius; Ile d’Ambre; refuge; Lamotius; Harry

Introduction

As an acknowledged icon of extinction, and indeed the first living (non-fossil) animal recognised as having become extinct (Turvey and Cheke 2008), the Dodo Raphus cucullatus, a giant extinct endemic flightless pigeon of Mauritius, has generated a literature that is disproportionately large given how little is actually known about it in life. A significant subset of Dodo writings revolve around the disputed date of its extinction. In absolute terms a few decades here or there in the seventeenth century are of little ultimate import, but the totemic nature of the species and the difference it makes to understanding the causes of its extinction, and that of other members of its island ecosystem, makes the discussion of some interest. Two recent papers (Jackson 2013; Roberts 2013) have, in quite different ways, used tangential information to speculate on the Dodo’s extinction date, but to follow the rather complex story some background is required.

The historical context around the Dodo’s extinction is the two periods of Dutch settlement of the previously uninhabited island by the Verenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie, 1638–1658 and 1664–1710, with the welldocumented shipwreck of the Arnhem in 1662 occurring during the interval when the Dutch temporarily abandoned the island (Moree 1998; Cheke and Hume 2008). The full quotations from seventeenth century writings on Dodos referred to in this note can be found in Parish (2013), and the full text of Evertsz’s experiences on Mauritius in Cheke (2004).

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