Return of the Crazy Bird The Sad, Strange Tale of the Dodo
Although everybody is familiar with the dodo bird, very few people know its history. Yet this history is compelling when read as a fable of the negative impact of humans on Earth's ecosystems. The author describes the complexity of the factors involved in
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Return of the Crazy Bird The Sad, Strange Tale of the Dodo
Clara Pinto-Correia
copernicus books An Imprint of Springer-Verlag
© 2003 Springer-Verlag New York, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher. Every reasonable attempt has been made to identify owners of copyright. Errors or omissions will be corrected in subsequent editions. Published in the United States by Copernicus Books, an imprint of Springer-Verlag New York, Inc. A member of BertelsmannSpringer Science+Business Media GmbH Copernicus Books 37 East 7th Street New York, NY 10003 www.copernicusbooks.com Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Correia, Clara Pinto. Return of the crazy bird: the sad, strange tale of the dodo / Clara Pinto-Correia. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references (p.) and index. ISBN 0-387-98876-9 (alk. paper) 1. Dodo. I. Title. QL696.C67 C67 2002 598.6’5—dc21 2002070737 Manufactured in the United States of America. Printed on acid-free paper. 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 ISBN 0-387-98876-9
SPIN 10730283
In the fondest memory of Steve Gould— may his wisdom keep guiding me.
Contents
Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7
Preface
ix
Acknowledgments
xv
The Weirdest Creatures The Discovery The Emperor and the Painters Mauritius and Réunion Rodrigues The Rise of Dodology An Enduring Legacy
1 15 47 89 109 133 177
Bibliography
199
Index
209
Preface
I caught my first glimpse of the legendary dodo when, as a child, I heard an amazing tale about this incredible bird. I can’t remember how old I was. Still, I’m sure this revelation occurred during one of those long conversations between my parents and their friends as they sat around the living room talking one evening. I loved these gatherings and would listen with rapt attention to their cascades of words and sentences that always seemed so loaded with erudition and wit. As I listened, I would hold my breath and pray to Jesus to make me able to shine the way they did when I was older. It was a feat that seemed absolutely out of reach, and yet it was probably the thing I desired most as a child. In order to learn their language, I would listen very closely and try to memorize expressions, bits of trivia, big words full of syllables, awesome stories. So, one day as I was listening, someone said that the infamously stupid and now extinct dodo bird owed its name to my native Portuguese, who had been the first Europeans to find the bird’s island home. Portuguese sailors had promptly called the beast a doudo, the ancient version of our modern doido, an idiot, a fool, or any creature out of its mind. Then, with time and different waves of colonization, doudo had ended up as dodo. As a child, I was even more of a rabid, shameless patriot than I am now, so my lungs took a big breath of nationalistic pride,
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