The near-complete skeleton of an extinct bird, one of only two in the world and kept at a Durban museum, has been instrumental in revealing startling insights into the life of the species.
The findings of the research project – titled “New insights from Durban’s dodo: lessons from an icon of extinction” – will be presented by Dutch biologist, Professor Leon Claessens, of the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts, at the 6th Magqubu Ntombela-Ian Player annual lecture at the Durban Natural Science Museum on Wednesday.
Claessens used high-resolution, three-dimensional laser surface-scanning techniques in an effort to understand the species better.
He first visited Durban in January 2012 for two weeks and worked with the curator of birds at the museum, David Allan, to scan the “exceptionally complete” skeleton.
“So very simply, you shine the laser over an object and then you capture a picture of it. Of course, if you say you’re going to scan an entire dodo skeleton, it’s going to take you weeks because you need to have the laser reach each individual surface of the bone.”
CAT scans could not be used because the skeletons were mounted more than a century ago with wire; metal would distort the image.
This image is then “printed” using a 3D printer and does not in any way compromise the bones.
Dodos, which nested on the ground, became extinct in 1680, after settlers on Mauritius brought domestic animals on to the island.
He said the Durban skeleton revealed far more than previous composite skeletons (put together from loose bones), including bones not found in other specimens.
Over-sized pigeon
The next step took much longer to complete.
“We had to edit these scans … We digitally separated every bone, forming a digital marionette of this skeleton and assessing how these bones articulate and fit together.”
His initial interest was in how the dodo, essentially an “over-sized pigeon”, walked after becoming so much larger than its distant relative.
“It lost the capacity to fly… and became very big. A standard pigeon weighs between 300-350g but dodos weighed somewhere between 12-15kg.”
To determine how the birds moved, having bones that belonged in the same skeleton, was the key in determining how muscle attachments worked and how the bones themselves fitted together.
Claessens then decided an in-depth look at the bird’s anatomy was warranted, leading to the putting together of a monograph (a detailed written study), to be published early next year in the international scientific journal The Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology.
“I don’t think the bird was as clumsy as it is portrayed. It’s a very undeserved bad reputation.
“Dodos were very well adapted to their environment. It just had the misfortune of living on an island, with nowhere to go.”
Allan said the Durban skeleton had been purchased almost a century ago, in 1918 and was one of only two virtually complete skeletons in existence, the other being housed at the Mauritius Institute.
Claessens said that the dodo was something of a “case study”, when related to other animals facing extinction today, such as the rhino.