The Dodo and the Solitaire: A Natural History

6: The Natural History of the Dodo and the Solitaire

265 6 The Natural History of the Dodo and the Solitaire Comments are given on the morphology of Raphus, with comments on Pezophaps added. Comparisons are made with closely related taxa: the crowned pigeons (Goura), the Nicobar pigeon (Caloenas) and the toothbilled pigeon (Didunculus). General Appearance Raphus. Dodos were described as being “like penguins” by the first Dutch eyewitnesses (e.g., Cornelisz 1598). They were said to be “very fat” (Van Heemskerk 1598; Van West-Zanen 1648) and “well fed” (Van West-Zanen 1648). Bontekoe (1646) remarked that they were so fat they could hardly go, and that when they walked their rump almost touched the ground. In contrast, L’Estrange (c. 1638) described the dodo as “so legged and footed” as a male turkey, “but stouter and thicker.” A similarity with the ostrich was also noted (Herbert 1638; Bontius 1658), and Almeida (1616) described the dodo as a “very young ostrich.” The dodo was described as having “the body of an ostrich” (Van Heemskerk 1598), with a round and fat body (Herbert 1634), and a round rump (Anon. 1601a; Clusius 1605; Van West-Zanen 1648). The “posterior part of the body was very fat” (Clusius 1605), and the bird was described as “well fed” (Van West-Zanen 1648). The bulge of the large crop is distinct (Gelderland sketches; Mansūr) and some illustrations show a “saddle” or bulge over the shoulder region (Gelderland sketches; Mansūr). Stresemann (1958) noted a similarity between the large abdomen of the dodo and that of the domestic Toulouse goose. Raphus and Pezophaps were sometimes compared to the turkey (Meleagris gallopavo; “coq d’Inde” [Belon 1555]), a bird familiar to many writers of the time. Hume (2006) suggested that there might have been albinistic (as in Savery-Dahlem; see chapter 3) and possibly melanistic (as in Gosling’s specimen ; see chapter 5) dodos. This is uncertain: the coloration of the former was probably due to artistic license and that of the latter due to its preservation . However, there was probably some variation in color. It will be seen that there are many differences between descriptions and between those and the illustrations. As regards the illustrations, this may be due to individual, sexual, seasonal, or ontogenetic variation, to inaccuracy, or to the nature of the model (i.e., preserved specimen vs. live bird). The osteology exhibits much variation, and it may be assumed that the external features were similarly variable. Indeed, the great sexual dimorphism observed in the osteology of the solitaire was apparently matched in its plumage color (see below). Pezophaps is known to have shown variation in Description Those who have tried to draw definitive conclusions concerning dodo anatomy (and many have!) from such pictures, have faced no end of difficulty, for we really know very little concerning the circumstances under which these paintings were made, nor the intentions of the artists. Fuller 2000, 200 6.1. Skeleton of Raphus. The Dodo and the Solitaire 266 plumage color (cf. Aphanapteryx bonasia, varying from yellowish to reddishbrown ). It is therefore probable that Raphus also displayed variation; perhaps some individuals were grayer and others browner. A potentially small gene pool (related to small founding population and restricted habitat space due to being on an island) and rapid evolution might have contributed to such variation. Pezophaps. The females had two rises on the breast, whiter than the rest of the plumage (Leguat 1708). These “risings” might have “contained parts of the crop in which the lining was folded or otherwise increased in area. If that is true, they may have been the precursors of glands–in which case, Leguat’s likening them to the beautiful bosom of a woman was more appropriate than he imagined” (Storer 2005, 1003). Storer thought that Leguat ’s report that these risings were only found in the female was probably correct, due to the large degree of sexual dimorphism in Pezophaps. Gennes de la Chancelière (1735) reported that some specimens of Pezophaps had an inch (27 mm) of fat on the body. The tarsometatarsus is more slender and longer in Pezophaps than in Raphus, suggesting to Strickland that the former was “a taller bird, but of lighter build and more active movements” (1853, 195). Size Raphus. Raphus was described as being “as much as two times as large as penguins” (Cornelisz 1598); “as large as a goose” (Van Heemskerk 1598); “the size of a goose, larger than a swan” (Van Heemskerk 1598); “as large as lambs” (Grimmaert 1598); “as large...